ACT III.

ACT III.

A large country yard; in the farther end an oak, venerable with age, beyond the fields, bounded by mountains, furrowed by torrents; on the left the house of LAZARO, the door open, the porch littered with agricultural implements; on the right the haystack, the mill, and the straw stack.

The body of LAZARO is lying on the floor within the house, the head resting, according to custom for one murdered, on a bundle of grape-vine twigs; the wailers, kneeling, surround the body, one of them intoning the lamentation, the others answering. At times they bow toward one another, bending till they bring their foreheads together. On the porch, between the plough and large earthen vessel, are the kindred and SPLENDORE and FAVETTA. Farther from them is VIENDA DI GIAVE, sitting on a hewn stone, looking pale and desolate, with the look of one dying, her mother and godmother consoling her. ORNELLA is under the tree, alone, her head turned toward the path. All are in mourning.

CHORUS OF WAILERS

Jesu, Saviour, Jesu, Saviour!
'T is your will. 'T is your bidding,
That a tragic death accursed
Lazaro fell by and perished.
From peak unto peak ran the shudder,
All of the mountain was shaken.
Veiled was the sun in heaven,
Hidden his face was and covered.
Woe! Woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro!
Alas! What tears for thee tear us!
Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine.
(O Lord! give him rest eternal.)

ORNELLA

Now, now! Coming! 'T is coming! Far off!
The black standard! The dust rising!
O sisters, my sisters, think, oh! think
Of the mother, how to prepare her!—
That her heart may not break. But a little
And he will be here. Lo! at the near turn,
At the near turn the standard appearing!

SPLENDORE

Mother of the passion of the Son crucified,
You and you only can tell the mother,—
Go to the mother, to her heart whisper!

[Some of the women go out to see.]

ANNA DI BOVE

It is the cypress of the field of Fiamorbo.

FELAVIA SESARA

It is the shadow of clouds passing over.

ORNELLA

It is neither the cypress nor shadow
Of storm-cloud, dear women, I see it advancing,
Neither cypress nor storm-cloud, woe's me!
But the Standard and Sign of Wrong-Doing
That is borne along with him. He's coming
The condemned one's farewells to receive here,
To take from the hands of the mother
The cup of forgetting, ere to God he commend him.
Ah! herefore are we not all of us dying,
Dying with him? My sisters, my sisters!

[The sisters all look out the gate toward the path.]

THE CHORUS OF WAILERS

Jesu, Jesu, it were better
That this roof should on us crumble.
Ah! Too much is this great sorrow,
Candia della Leonessa.
On the bare ground your husband lying,
Not even permitted a pillow,
But only a bundle of vine-twigs,
Under his head where he's lying.
Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro!
Alas! What pain for thee pains us!
Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine.

SPLENDORE

Favetta, go you; go speak to her.
Go you, touch her on the shoulder.
So she may feel and turn. She is seated
Like unto a stone on the hearthstone,
Stays fixed there without moving an eyelash,
And she seems to see nothing, hear nothing;
She seems to be one with the hearthstone.
Dear Virgin of mercy and pity!
Her senses O do not take from her!—Unhappy one!
Cause her to heed us, and in our eyes looking
To come to herself, dear unhappy one.
Yet I have no heart even to touch her,
And who then will say the word to her?
O sister! Go tell her: Lo! he is coming!

FAVETTA

Nor have I the heart. She affrights me.
How she looked before I seem to forget,
And how her voice sounded before,
Ere in the deep of this sorrow
We plunged. Her head has whitened
And it grows every hour whiter.
Oh! she is scarcely ours any more,
She seems from us so far away,
As if on that stone she were seated
For years a hundred times one hundred—
From one hundred years to another—
And had lost, quite lost remembrance
Of us.—O just see now, just see now,
Her mouth, how shut her mouth is!
More shut than the mouth that's made silent,—
Mute on the ground there forever.
How then can she speak to us ever?
I will not touch her nor can I tell her—
"Lo! he is coming!" If she awaken
She'll fall, she'll crumble. She affrights me!

SPLENDORE

O wherefore were we born, my sisters?
And wherefore brought forth by our mother?
Let us all in one sheaf be gathered,
And let Death bear us all thus away!

THE CHORUS OF WAILERS

—Ah! mercy, mercy on you, Woman!
—Ah! mercy be upon you, Women!
—Up and take heart again! The Lord God
Will uplift whom he uprooted.
If God willed it that sad be the vintage
Mayhap He wills, too, that the olives
Be sure. Put your trust in the Lord.
—And sadder than you is another,
She who sat in her home well contented,
In plenty, mid bread and clean flour,
Entering here, fell asleep, to awaken
Amid foul misfortune and never
Again to smile. She is dying: Vienda.
Of the world beyond is she already.
—She is there without wailing or weeping!
Ah! on all human flesh have thou pity!
On all that are living have mercy!
And all who are born to suffer,
To suffer and know not wherefore!

ORNELLA

Oh, there Femo di Nerfa is coming,
The ox driver, hurriedly coming.
And there is the standard stopping
Beside the White Tabernacle.
My sisters, shall I myself go to her
And bear her the word?
Woe! oh, woe! If she does not remember
What is required of her. Lord God
Forbid that she be not ready
And all unprepared he come on her and call her,
For if his voice strike her ear on a sudden
Then surely her heart will be broken, broken!

ANNA DI BOVE

Then surely her heart will be broken,
Ornella, if you should go touch her,
For you bring bad fortune with you.
'T was you who barred up the doorway,
'T was you who unfettered Aligi.

THE CHORUS OF WAILERS

To whom are you leaving your ploughshare,
O Lazaro! to whom do you leave it?
Who now your fields will be tilling?
Who now your flocks will be leading?
Both father and son the Enemy
Has snared in his toils and taken.
Death of infamy! Death of infamy!
The rope, and the sack, and the blade of iron!
Woe! woe! Lazaro, Lazaro, Lazaro!
Alas! What torments for thee torment us!
Requiem æternam dona ei, Domine.

[The ox driver appears, panting.]

FEMO DI NERFA

Where is Candia? O ye daughters of the dead one!
Judgment is pronounced. Now kiss ye
The dust! Now grasp in your hands the ashes!
For now the Judge of Wrong-Doing
Has given the final sentence.
And all the People is the Executor
Of the Parricide, and in its hands it has him.
Now the People are bringing here your brother
That he may receive forgiveness
From his own mother, from his mother
Receive the cup of forgetfulness,
Before his right hand they shall sever,
Before in the leathern sack they sew him
With the savage mastiff and throw him
Where the deep restless waters o'erflow him!
All ye daughters of the dead one, kiss ye
The dust now; grasp in your hands now the ashes!
And may our Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Upon innocent blood have pity!

[The three sisters rush up to each other, and then advancing slowly, remain with their heads touching each other. From the distance is heard the sound of the muffled drum.]

MARIA CORA

O Femo, how could you ever say it?

FEMO DI NERFA

Where is Candia? Why does she not appear here?

LA CINERELLA

On the hearthstone, the stone by the fireplace
She sits and gives no sign of living.

ANNA DI BOVA

And there's no one so hardy to touch her.

LA CINERELLA

And affrighted for her are her daughters.

FELAVIA SESARA

And you, Femo, did you bear witness?

LA CATALANA

And Aligi, did you have him near you?
And before the judge what did he utter?

MONICA BELLA COGNA

What said he? What did he? Aloud
Did he cry? Did he rave, the poor unfortunate one?

FEMO DI NERFA

He fell on his knees and remained so,
And upon his own hand stayed gazing,
And at times he would say "Mea culpa,"
And would kiss the earth before him,
And his face looked sweet and humble,
As the face of one who was innocent.
And the angel carved out of the walnut block
Was near him there with the blood-stain.
And many about him were weeping,
And some of them said, "He is innocent."

ANNA DI BOVA

And that woman of darkness, Mila
Di Codra, has anyone seen her?

LA CATALANA

Where is the daughter of Jorio?
Was she not to be seen? What know you?

FEMO DI NERFA

They have searched all the sheepfolds and stables
Without any trace of her finding.
The shepherds have nowhere seen her,
Only Cosma, the saint of the mountain,
Seems to have seen her, and he says
That in some mountain gorge she's gone to cast her bones away.

LA CATALANA

May the crows find her yet living
And pick out her eyes. May the wolf-pack
Scent her yet living and tear her!

FELAVIA SESARA

And ever reborn to that torture
Be the damnable flesh of that woman!

MARIA CORA

Be still, be still, Felavia, silence, I say!
Be silent now! For Candia has arisen,
She is walking, coming to the threshold.
Now she goes out. O daughters, ye daughters,
She has arisen, support her!

[The sisters separate and go toward the door.]

THE CHORUS OF WAILERS

Candia della Leonessa,
Whither go you? Who has called you?
Sealed up are your lips and silent,
And your feet are like feet fettered.
Death you are leaving behind you,
And sin you find coming to meet you.
Wheresoever going, wheresoever turning,
Thorny everywhere the pathway.
Oh! woe! woe! ashes, ashes, widow!
Oh! woe! mother, Jesu! Jesu! mercy!
De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine.
(Out of the deep, O Lord, I cry unto Thee!)

[The mother appears at the threshold. The daughters timidly go to support her. She gazes at them in great bewilderment.]

SPLENDORE

Mother, dearest, you have risen, maybe
You need something—refreshment—
A mouthful of muscadel, a cordial?

FAVETTA

Parched are your lips, you dear one,
And bleeding are they? Shall we not bathe them?

ORNELLA

Mommy, have courage, we are with you.
Unto this great trial God has called you.

CANDIA

And from one warp came so much linen,
And from one spring so many rivers,
And from one oak so many branches,
And from one mother many daughters!

ORNELLA

Mother dear, your forehead is fevered. For the weather
To-day is stifling, and your dress is heavy,
And your dear face is all wet with moisture.

MARIA CORA

Jesu, Jesu, may she not lose her senses!

LA CINERELLA

Help her regain her mind, Madonna!

CANDIA

It is so long since I did any singing,
I fear I cannot hold the melody.
But to-day is Friday, there is no singing,
Our Saviour went to the mountain this day.

SPLENDORE

O mother dear, where does your mind wander?
Look at us! Know us! What idle fancy
Teases you? Wretched are we! What is her meaning?

CANDIA

Here, too, is the stole, and here, too, is the cup sacramental,
And this is the belfry of San Biagio.
And this is the river, and this my own cabin.
But who, who is this one who stands in my doorway?

[Sudden terror seizes the young girls. They draw back, watching their mother, moaning and weeping.]

ORNELLA

O my sisters, we have lost her!
Lost her, also, our dear mother!
Oh! too far away do her senses stray!

SPLENDORE

Unhappy we! Whom God's malediction left
Alone in the land, orphans bereft!

FAVETTA

By the other, a new grave make ready near
And bury us living all unready here!

FELAVIA SESARA

No no, dear girls, be not so despairing,
For the shock is but pushing her senses
Far back to some time long ago.
Let them wander! thence soon to be turning!

[CANDIA takes several steps.]

ORNELLA

Mother, you hear me? Where are you going?

CANDIA

I have lost the heart of my dear gentle boy,
Thirty-three days ago now, nor yet do I find it;
Have you seen him anywhere? Have you met him afar?
—Upon Calvary Mountain I left him,
I left him afar on the distant mountain,
I left him afar in tears and bleeding.

MARIA CORA

Ah! she is telling her stations.

FELAVIA SESARA

Let her mind wander, let her say them!

LA CINERELLA

Let her all her heart unburden!

MONICA DELIA COGNA

O Madonna of Holy Friday,
Have pity on her! And pray for us!

[The two women kneel and pray.]

CANDIA

Lo! now the mother sets out on her travels,
To visit her son well beloved she travels.
—O Mother, Mother, wherefore your coming?
Among these Judeans there is no safety.
—An armful of linen cloth I am bringing
To swathe the sore wounds of your body.
—Ah! me! had you brought but a swallow of water!
—My son!—No pathway I know nor wellspring;
But if you will bend your dear head a little
A throatful of milk from my breast I will give you,
And if then you find there no milk, oh so closely
To heart I will press you, my life will go to you!
—O Mother, Mother, speak softly, softly—

[She stops for a moment, then dragging her words, cries out suddenly with a despairing cry.]

Mother, I have been sleeping for years seven hundred,
Years seven hundred, I come from afar off.
I no longer remember the days of my cradle.

[Struck by her own voice, she stops and looks about bewildered, as if suddenly awakened from a dream. Her daughters hasten to support her. The women all rise. The beating of the drum sounds less muffled, as if approaching.]

ORNELLA

Ah! how she's trembling, how she's all trembling!
Now she swoons. Her heart is almost broken.
For two days she has tasted nothing. Gone is she!

SPLENDORE

Mamma, who is it speaks within you? What do you feel,
Speaking inside you, in the breast of you?

FAVETTA

Oh! unto us hearken; heed us, mother,
Oh! look upon us! We are here with you!

FEMO DI NERFA [from the end of the yard]

O women, women, he's near, the crowd with him.
The standard is passing the cistern now.
They are bringing also the angel covered.

[The women gather under the oak to watch.]

ORNELLA [in a loud voice]

Mother, Aligi is coming now; Aligi is coming,
To take from your heart the token of pardon,
And drink from your hand the cup of forgetfulness.
Awaken, awaken, be brave, dear mother;
Accursed he is not. With deep repentance
The sacred blood he has spilled redeeming.

CANDIA

'T is true; oh, 'tis true. With the leaves he was bruising
They stanched the blood that was gushing.
"Son Aligi," he said then, "Son Aligi,
Let go the sickle and take up the sheep-crook,
Be you the shepherd and go to the mountain."
This his commandment was kept in obedience.

SPLENDORE

Do you well understand? Aligi is coming.

CANDIA

And unto the mountain he must be returning.
What shall I do? All his new clothing
I have not yet made ready, Ornella!

ORNELIA

Mother, let us take this step. Turn now unto us; here,
In front of the house we must await him
And give our farewell to him who is leaving,
Then all in peace we shall lie down together,
Side by side in the deep bed below.

[The daughters lead their mother out on the porch.]

CANDIA [murmuring to herself]

I lay down and meseemed of Jesus I dreamed,
He came to me saying, "Be not fearful!"
San Giovanni said to me, "Rest in safety."

THE CHORUS OF KINDRED

—Oh what crowds of people follow the standard,
The whole village is coming after,
—Iona di Midia is carrying the standard.
—Oh how still it is, like a processional!
—Oh what sadness! On his head the veil of sable,
—On his hands the wooden fetters,
Large and heavy, big as an ox-yoke!
Head to foot the gray cloth wraps him, he is barefoot.
-Ah! Who can look longer! My face I bury,
I close up my eyes from longer seeing.
—The leathern sack Leonardo is bearing,
Biagio Gudo leads the savage mastiff.
—Mix in with the wine the roots of solatro
That he may lose his consciousness.
—Brew with the wine the herb novella
That he may lose feeling, miss suffering.
Go, Maria Cora, you who know the secrets,
Help Ornella to mix the potion.
—Dire was the deed, dire is the suffering.
Oh what sadness! See the people!
—Silently comes all the village.
—Abandoned now are all the vineyards.
—To-day, to-day no grapes are gathered.
—Yes, to-day even the land is mourning.
—Who is not weeping? Who is not wailing?
—See Vienda! Almost in death's agony.
Better for her that she lost her senses.
—Better for her that she see not, hear not.
—O woe for her bitter fate, three months only
Since we came and brought our hampers!
—And sorrow yet to come who may measure?
—No tears shall be left in us for weeping.

FEMO DI NERFA

Silence, O kindred, for here comes Iona.

[The women turn toward the porch. There is a deep silence. The voice of IONA]

IONA

O widow of Lazaro di Roio,
O people of this unhappy home,
Behold now! Behold now! The penitent is coming.

[The tall figure of IONA appears bearing the standard. Behind him comes the parricide, robed in gray, the head covered with a black veil, both hands manacled in heavy wooden fetters. A man on one side is holding the shepherd's carved crook; others carry the angel covered with a white cloth, which they lower to the ground. The crowd pushes between the straw stack and ancient oak. The waiters, still on their knees, crawl to the door and lift up their voices in cries and wailing towards the condemned one.]

THE CHORUS OF WAILERS

Son, O son Aligi! Son, O son Aligi!
What have you done? What have you done?
Whose body is this body bleeding?
And who upon the stone has placed it?
Now hath come your hour upon you!
Black is the wine of the evil-doer!
Severed hand and death of infamy;
Severed hand and sack of leather!
Oh! woe! woe! O son of Lazaro. Lazaro
Is dead. Woe! Woe! And you slew Lazaro!
Libera, Domine, animam servi tui.
(Spare, O Lord, the soul of this thy servant.)

IONA DI MIDIA

Grief is yours, Candia della Leonessa,
O Vienda di Giave, grief is yours,
Grief is yours, daughters of the dead one! Kindred,
May the Lord Saviour have pity on all of you, women,
For into the hands of the People, judging,
The Judge has now given Aligi di Lazaro.
That upon the deed infamous we may take vengeance,
A deed upon all of us fallen, and having no equal,
Nor among our ancestors known to memory,
And, may it forever be lost from memory,
By the grace of the Lord, from son to son, henceforth.
Now, therefore, the penitent one we lead hither,
That he may receive the cup of forgetfulness
From you here, Candia della Leonessa,
Since he out of your flesh and your blood was the issue,
To you 't is conceded to lift the veil of sable,
'T is yielded you lift to his mouth the cup of forgetting,
Since his death unto him shall be exceeding bitter.
Salvum fac populum tuum, Domine!
(Save, O Lord, these thy people)
Kyrie eleison!

THE CROWD

Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison!

[IONA places his hand on ALIGI'S shoulder. The penitent then takes a step toward his mother, and falls, as if broken down, upon his knees.]

ALIGI

Praises to Jesus and to Mary!
I can call you no longer my mother,
'T is given to me to bless you no longer.
This is the mouth of hell—this mouth!
To curses only these lips are given,
That sucked from you the milk of life,
That from your lips learned orisons holy
In the fear of the Lord God Almighty,
And of all of his law and commandments.
Why have I brought upon you this evil?—
You—of all women born to nourish the child,
To sing him to sleep on the lap, in the cradle!—
This would I say of my will within me,
But locked must my lips remain.
—Oh, no! Lift not up my veil of darkness
Lest thus in its fold you behold
The face of my terrible sinning.
Do not lift up my veil of darkness,
No, nor give me the cup of forgetting.
Then but little shall be my suffering,
But little the suffering decreed me.
Rather chase me with stones away,
Ay, with stones and with staves drive and chase me,
As you would chase off the mastiff even
Soon to be of my anguish companion,
And to tear at my throat and mumble it,
While my desperate spirit within me
Shall cry aloud, "Mamma! Mamma!"
When the stump of my arm is reeking
In the cursed sack of infamy.

THE CROWD [with hushed voices]

—Ah! the mother, poor dear soul! See her!
See how in two nights she has whitened!
She does not weep. She can weep no longer.
—Bereft is she of her senses.
—Not moving at all. Like the statue
Of our Mater Dolorosa. O have pity!
—O good Lord, have mercy on her!
Blessed Virgin, pity, help her!
—Jesus Christ have pity on her!

ALIGI

And you also, my dear ones, no longer
'T is given me to call you sisters,
'T is given me no longer to name you
By your names in your baptisms christened.
Like leaves of mint your names unto me,
In my mouth like leaves that are fragrant,
That brought unto me in the pastures
Unto my heart joy and freshness.
And now on my lips do I feel them,
And aloud am I fain to say them.
I crave no other consolation
Than that for my spirit's passing.
But no longer to name them 't is given me.
And now the sweet names must faint and wither,
For who shall be lovers to sing them
At eve beneath your casement windows?
For who shall be lovers unto the sisters
Of Aligi? And now is the honey
Turned into bitterness; O then, chase me,
And, like a hound, hound me away.
With staves and with stones strike me.
But ere you thus chase me, O suffer
That I leave unto you, disconsolate,
But these two things of my sole possession,
The things that these kindly people
Carry for me: the sheep-crook of bloodwood,
Whereon I carved the three virgin sisters,
In your likeness did I carve them,
To wander the mountain pastures with me,—
The sheep-crook, and the silent angel,
That with my soul I have been carving.
Woe is me for the stain that stains it!
But the stain that stains it shall fade away
Some day, and the angel now silent
Shall speak some day, and you shall hearken,
And you shall heed. Suffer me suffer
For all I have done! With my woe profound
In comparison little I suffer!

THE CROWD

Oh! the children, poor dear souls! See them!
See how pale and how worn are their faces!
—They too are no longer weeping
—They have no tears left for weeping.
Dry their eyes are, inward burning.
—Death has mown them with his sickle,—
To the ground laid them low ere their dying.
Down they are mown but not gathered.
—Have mercy upon them, O merciful one!
Upon these thy creatures so innocent.
—Pity, Lord Jesus, pity! Pity!

ALIGI

And you who are maiden and widow,
Who have found in the chests of your bridal
Only the vestment of mourning,
The combs of ebon, of thorns the necklace,
Your fine linen woven of tribulation,
Full of weeping your days ever more,
In heaven shall you have your nuptials,
And may you be spouse unto Jesus!
And Mary console you forever!

THE CROWD

O poor dear one! Until vespers
Hardly lasting, and now drawing
Her last breath. Lost her face is
In her hair of gold all faded,
Even all her golden tresses.
—Now like flax upon the distaff,
—Or shade-grown grass for Holy Thursday.
—Yes, Vienda, maiden-widow,
Paradise is waiting for you.
—If she is not, then who is Heaven's?
—May Our Lady take you with her!
—Put her with the white pure angels!
—Put her with the golden martyrs!

IONA DI MIDIA

Aligi, your farewells are spoken,
Rise now and depart. It grows late.
Ere long will the sun be setting.
To the Ave Maria you shall not hearken.
The evening star you shall not see glimmer.
O Candia della Leonessa,
If you, poor soul, on him have pity,
Give, if you will, the cup, not delaying,
For the mother art thou, and may console him.

THE CROWD

Candia, lift up the veil, Candia!
Press his lips to the cup, Candia,
Give him the potion, give him
Heart to bear his suffering. Rise, Candia!
—Upon your own son take pity.
—You only can help him; to you, 't is granted.
—Have mercy upon him! Mercy, O mercy!

[ORNELLA hands the mother the cup containing the potion. FAVETTA and SPLENDORE encourage the poor mother. ALIGI, kneeling, creeps to the door of the house and addresses the dead body.]

ALIGI

Father, father, my father Lazaro,
Hear me. You have crossed over the river,
In your bier, though it was heavier
Than the ox-cart, your bier was,
And the rock was dropped in the river.
Where the current was swiftest, you crossed it;
Father, father, my father Lazaro,
Hear me. Now I also would cross over
The river, but I—I cannot. I am going
To seek out that rock at the bottom.
And then I shall go to find you:
And over me you will pass the harrow,
Through all eternity to tear me,
Through all eternity to lacerate me.
Father of mine, full soon I'll be with you!

[The mother goes toward him in deep horror. Bending down she lifts the veil, presses his head upon her breast with her left hand, takes the cup ORNELLA offers and puts it to ALIGI'S lips. A confusion of muffled voices rises from the people in the yard and down the path.]

IONA DI MIDIA

Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum.
(Accept, O Lord, this thy servant.)
Kyrie eleison.

THE CROWD

Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison,
Miserere, Deus, miserere.
—Do you see, do you see his face?
This do we see upon earth, Jesus!
—Oh! Oh! Passion of the Saviour!
—But who is calling aloud? And wherefore?
—Be silent now! Hush, hush! Who is calling?
—The daughter of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio, Mila di Codra!
—Great God, but this is a miracle!
—It is the daughter of Jorio coming.
—Good God! She is raised from the dead!
-Make room! Make room! Let her pass by!
—Accursed dog, are you yet living?
—Ah! Witch of Hell, is it you?
—She-dog! Harlot! Carrion!
—Back! Back! Make room! Let her pass!
—Come, she-thing, come! Make way!
—Let her pass through! Let her alone! In the Lord's name!

[ALIGI rises to his feet, his face uncovered. He looks toward the clamoring crowd, the mother and sisters still near him. Impetuously opening her way through the crowd, MILA appears.]

MILA DI CODRA

Mother of Aligi, sisters
Of Aligi, Bride and Kindred,
Standard-bearer of Wrong-Doing, and you,
All ye just people! Judge of God!
I am Mila di Codra.
I come to confess. Give me hearing.
The saint of the mountain has sent me.
I have come down from the mountain,
I am here to confess in public
Before all. Give me hearing.

IONA DI MIDIA

Silence! Be silent! Let her have leave
To speak, in the name of God, let her.
Confess yourself, Mila di Codra.
All the just people shall judge you.

THE SACRIFICE OF MILA DI CODRA. Act III.

MILA

Aligi, the beloved son of Lazaro,
Is innocent. He did not commit

Parricide. But by me indeed was his father
Slain, by me was he killed with the axe.

ALIGI

Mila, God be witness that thou liest!

IONA

He has confessed it. He is guilty.
But you too are guilty, guilty with him.

THE CROWD

To the fire with her! To the fire with her! Now, Iona,
Give her to us, let us destroy her.
—To the brush heap with the sorceress,
Let them perish in the same hour together!
—No, no! I said it was so. He is innocent.
—He confessed it! He confessed it! The woman
Spurred him to do it. But he struck the blow.
—Both of them guilty! To the fire! To the fire!

MILA

People of God! Give me hearing
And afterward punish me.
I am ready. For this did I come here.

IONA

Silence! All! Let her speak!

MILA

Aligi, dear son of Lazaro,
Is innocent. But he knows it not.

ALIGI

Mila, God be witness that thou liest.
Ornella (oh! forgive me that I dare to
Name you!) bear thou witness
That she is deceiving the good people.

MILA

He does not know. Aught of that hour
Is gone from his memory. He is bewitched.
I have upset his reason,
I have confused his memory.
I am the Sorcerer's daughter. There is no
Sorcery that I do not know well,
None that I cannot weave. Is there one
Of the kindred among you, that one
Who accused me in this very place,
The evening of Santo Giovanni,
When I entered here by that door before us?
Let her come forth and accuse me again!

LA CATALANA

I am that one. I am here.

MILA

Do you bear witness and tell for me
Of those whom I have caused to be ill,
Of those whom I have brought unto death,
Of those whom I have in suffering held.

LA CATALANA

Giovanna Cametra, I know.
And the poor soul of the Marane,
And Alfonso and Tillura, I know.
And that you do harm to every one.

MILA

Now have you heard this thing, all you good people,
What this servant of God hath well said and truly?
Here I confess. The good saint of the mountain
Has touched to the quick my sorrowing conscience,
Here I confess and repent. O permit not
The innocent blood to perish.
Punishment do I crave. O punish me greatly!
To bring down ruin and to sunder
Dear ties and bring joys to destruction,
To take human lives on the day of the wedding
Did I come here to cross this threshold,
Of the fireplace there I made myself
The mistress, the hearth I bewitched,
The wine of hospitality I conjured,
Drink it I did not, but spilled it with sorceries.
The love of the son, the love of the father,
I turned into mutual hatred;
In the heart of the bride all joy strangled,
And by this my cunning, the tears
Of these young and innocent sisters
I bent to the aid of my wishes.
Tell me then, ye friends and kindred,
Tell me then, in the name of the Highest,
How great, how great is this my iniquity!

CHORUS OF THE KINDRED

It is true! It is true! All this has she done.
Thus glided she in, the wandering she-dog!
While yet Cinerella was pouring
Her handful of wheat on Vienda.
Very swiftly she did all her trickery,
By her evil wishes overthrowing
Very swiftly the young bridegroom.
And we all cried out against it.
But in vain was our crying. She had the trick of it.
It is true. Now only does she speak truly.
Praises to Him who this light giveth!

[ALIGI, with bent head, his chin resting on his breast, in the shadow of the veil, is intent and in a terrible perturbation and contest of soul, the symptoms at the same time, appearing in him of the effect of the potion.]

ALIGI

No, no, it is not true; she is deceiving
You, good people, do not heed her,
For this woman is deceiving you.
All of them here were all against her,
Heaping shame and hatred on her,
And I saw the silent angel
Stand behind her. With these eyes I saw him,
These mortal eyes that shall not witness
On this day the star of vesper.
I saw him gazing at me, weeping.
O Iona, it was a miracle,
A sign to show me her, God's dear one.

MILA

O Aligi, you poor shepherd!
Ignorant youth, and too believing!
That was the Apostate Angel!

[They all cross themselves, except ALIGI, prevented from doing so by his fetters, and ORNELLA who, standing alone at one side of the porch, gazes intently on the voluntary victim.]

Then appeared the Apostate Angel
(Pardon of God I must ever lack,
Nor of you, Aligi, be pardoned!)
He appeared your own two eyes to deceive.
It was the false and iniquitous angel.

MARIA CORA

I said it was so. At the time I said it.
It was a sacrilege then, I cried.

LA CINERELLA

And I said it, too, and cried out
When she dared call it the guardian angel
To watch over her. I cried out,
"She is blaspheming, she is blaspheming!"

MILA

Aligi, forgiveness from you, I know,
Cannot be, even if God forgive me.
But I must all my fraud uncover.
Ornella, oh! do not gaze upon me
As you gaze. I must stay alone!
Aligi, then when I came to the sheepstead,
Then, even, when you found me seated,
I was planning out your ruin.
And then you carved the block of walnut,
Ah, poor wretch, with your own chisel,
In the fallen angel's image!
(There it is, with the white cloth covered,
I feel it.) Ah! from dawn until evening
With secret art I wove spells upon you!
Remember them, do you not now of me?
How much love I bestowed upon you!
How much humility, in voice and demeanor—
Before your very face spells weaving?
Remember them, do you not now of me?
How pure we remained, how pure
I lay on your shepherd's pallet?
And how then?—how (did you not inquire?)
Such purity then, timidity, then,
In the sinning wayfarer
Whom the reapers of Norca
Had shamed as the shameless one
Before your mother? I was cunning,
Yea, cunning was I with my magic.
And did you not see me then gather
The chips from your angel and shavings,
And burn them, words muttering?
For the hour of blood I was making ready.
For of old against Lazaro
I nursed an old-time rancor.
You struck in your axe in the angel,—
O now must you heed me, God's people!
Then there came a great power upon me
To wield over him there now fettered.
It was close upon night in that ill-fated
Lodging. Lust-crazed then his father
Had seized me to drag toward the entrance,
When Aligi threw himself on us,
In order to save and defend me.
I brandished the axe then with swiftness.
In the darkness I struck him,
I struck him again. Yea, to death I felled him!
With the same stroke I cried, "You have killed him."
To the son I cried out, "You have killed him.
Killed him!" And great in me was my power.
A parricide with my cry I made him—
In his own soul enslaved unto my soul.
"I have killed him!" he answered, and swooning,
He fell in the bloodshed, naught otherwise knowing.

[CANDIA, with a frantic impulse, seizes with both hands her son, become once more her own. Then, detaching herself from him, with wilder and threatening gestures, advances on her enemy, but the daughters restrain her.]

CHORUS OF KINDRED

Let her do it, let her, Ornella!
—Let her tear her heart! Let her eat
Her heart! Heart for heart!
Let her seize her and take her
And underfoot trample her.
—Let her crush in and shiver
Temple to temple and shell out her teeth.
Let her do it, let her, Ornella!
Unless she do this she will not win back
Her mind and her senses in health again.
—Iona, Iona, Aligi is innocent.
—Unshackle him! Unshackle him!
—Take off the veil! Give him back to us!
—The day is ours, the people do justice.
—The righteous people give judgment.
—Command that he now be set free.

[MILA retreats near the covered angel, looking toward ALIGI, who is already under the influence of the potion.]

THE CROWD

—Praises be to God! Glory be to God! Glory to the Father!
—From us is this infamy lifted.
—Not upon us rests this blood-stain.
—From our generation came forth
No parricide. To God be the glory!
—Lazaro was killed by the woman,
The stranger, di Codra dalle Farne.
—We have said and pronounced: he is innocent.
Aligi is innocent. Unbind him!
—Let him be free this very moment!
—Let him be given unto his mother!
—Iona, Iona, untie him! Untie him!
Unto us this day the Judge of Wrong-Doing
Over one head gave us full power.
—Take the head of the sorceress!
—To the fire, to the fire with the witch!
—To the brushheap with the sorceress!
—O Iona di Midia, heed the people!
Unbind the innocent! Up, Iona!
—To the brush heap with the daughter
Of Jorio, the daughter of Jorio!

MILA

Yes, yes, ye just people, yes, ye people
Of God! Take ye your vengeance on me!
And put ye in the fire to burn with me
The Apostate Angel, the false one,—
Let it feed the flames to burn me
And let it with me be consumed!

ALIGI

Oh! voice of promising, voice of deceit,
Utterly tear away from within me
All of the beauty that seemed to reign there,
Beauty so dear unto me! Stifle
Within my soul the memory of her!
Will that I have heard her voice never,
Rejoiced in it never! Smooth out within me
All of those furrows of loving
That opened in me, when my bosom
Was unto her words of deceiving
As unto the mountain that's channelled
With the streams of melting snow! Close up within me
The furrow of all that hope and aspiring
Wherein coursed the freshness and gladness
Of all of those days of deceiving!
Cancel within me all traces of her!
Will it that I have heard and believed never!
But if this is not to be given me, and I am the one
Who heard and believed and hoped greatly,
And if I adored an angel of evil,
Oh! then I pray that ye both my hands sever,
And hide me away in the sack of leather
(Oh! do not remove it, Leonardo),
And cast me into the whirling torrent,
To slumber there for years seven hundred,
To sleep in the depths there under the water;
In the pit of the river-bed, years seven hundred,
And never remember the day
When God lighted the light in my eyes!

ORNELLA

Mila, Mila, 'tis the delirium,
The craze of the cup of forgetfulness
To console him he took from the mother.

THE CROWD

—Untie him, Iona, he is delirious.
—He has taken the wine potion.
—Let his mother lay him down on the settle.
—Let sleep come! Let him slumber!
—Let the good God give him slumber.

[IONA gives the standard to another and comes to ALIGI to untie him.]

ALIGI

Yes, for a little while free me, Iona,
So that I may lift my hand against her
(No, no, burn her not, for fire is beautiful!)
So that I call all the dead of my birthplace,
Those of years far away and forgotten,
Far, far away, far, far away,
Lying under the sod, fourscore fathom,
To curse her forever, to curse her!

MILA [with a heart-rending cry]

Aligi, Aligi, not you!
Oh! you cannot, you must not.

[Freed from the manacles, the veil withdrawn, ALIGI comes forward but falls back unconscious in the arms of his mother, the older sisters and the kindred gathering around him.]

CHORUS OF KINDRED

You need not be frightened. 'T is the wine only,
'T is the vertigo seizes him.
—Now the stupor falls upon him.
—Now slumber, deep slumber, o'erpowers him.
—Let him sleep, and may God give him peace!
—Let him lie down! Let him slumber!
—Vienda, Vienda, he is yours again.
—From the other world both will return now.
Laus Deo! Laus Deo! Gloria Patri!

[IONA puts the manacles upon MILA'S wrists, who offers both arms and covers her head with the black veil, then taking the standard of Wrong-Doing he pushes her toward the crowd.]

IONA

I give to you, just people,
Into your hands, Mila di Codra,
The daughter of Jorio, that one
Who does harm to every one.
Do you perform justice upon her,
And let her ashes be scattered.
O Lord, save thy people.
Kyrie eleison.

THE CROWD

Christe eleison! Kyrie eleison!
To the fire, to the flames with the daughter
Of Jorio! The daughter of Jorio!
And to the fire with the Apostate Angel!
To the brushheap with them! To hell-fire with them!

ORNELLA [with full voice in majesty]

Mila, Mila! My sister in Jesus,
I kiss your feet that hear you away!
Heaven is for thee!

MILA [from within the crowd]

The flame is beautiful! The flame is beautiful!

THE END

The University Press, Cambridge, U.S.A.