The golden lifeblood stirs, a seething wave,
And jewellery—rings and chains, a crown—
Which soon the metal flood will swallow and melt down.
THE CROWD [yelling by turns].
Oh look, oh look, it’s overspilling!
Right to the edge the chest is filling!—
See how they melt, the cups of gold,
See how the rolls of coin are rolled!—
The ducats dance as if new-struck;
Oh joyful sight, oh great good luck!—
5720
I watch my dearest wish come true!
They’re spinning on the ground now too—
This is your chance, now use it quick,
Stoop to be rich, and take your pick!—
Our lot’s the strongest, we’re the best,
We’ll carry off the treasure-chest.—
THE HERALD. You fools, it’s just a masquerade!
What are you doing? That’s enough
Greed for one evening. Did you think this stuff
Was gold and money? I’m afraid
5730
You louts don’t even qualify
For gaming-counters in this game.
A pleasant fancy: you think that’s the same
As the coarse truth? And indeed, why
Should you know truth? You wildly snatch
At any dull illusion you can catch.
Oh mask of Plutus, lord of mummery,
Scatter this rabble mob for me!
PLUTUS. For that, no doubt, your staff is fit,
If I may briefly borrow it!—
5740
I’ll dip it in the soup of gold.—
Now, mummers, have a care! Behold
It flash and splash and spark and spit!
Soon it’s red-hot, see how it glows!
Now anyone who comes too close
Will be unmercifully singed. Stand clear!
I must pace out a circle here.
THE CROWD [crying out and pushing].
Oh! Oh! We’re done for! Runaway!—
Every man for himself, I say!—
You there behind, get back, make way!—
5750
It’s spurting in my face, it’s hot!—
I’m crushed by the burning stick he’s got!—
Stand back, you mummer-mob, stand back!—
Make room, make room, you senseless pack!—
Now we’re all lost, now we’ll all die!—
Oh, give me wings, and off I’d fly!—
PLUTUS. The encircling crowd must now retire;
They seem to have escaped the fire.
The mob takes fright,
They’re put to flight.
5760
But I must draw an unseen border
To guarantee this new-found order.
THE HERALD. A splendid work you now fulfil,
Thanks to your power and your skill.
PLUTUS. We must be patient, noble friend;
This tumult’s not yet at an end.
THE MISER., Now if we please, we may survey
This charming circle: once again,
As always, women take the forefront when
Some sweetmeat tempts or something’s on display.
5770
My rusting-up’s not yet complete,
A female beauty’s still a treat.
So off I’ll go and court some ladies;
And I’m in luck today—it’s gratis.
But with such crowds of people here,
Not every word is heard by every ear;
So I will use my arts, and mimically express
My meaning; this should bring me some success.
Hands, feet and gestures here are insufficient:
But in a ruder jest I’ll be proficient.
5780
My clay shall be this malleable gold,
For it’s a metal apt to every mould.
THE HERALD. Our walking skeleton, what’s he up to now?
Has hunger made him humorous somehow?
He’s kneading all that gold like dough;
Between his hands it softens so.
He squeezes it: a lump, a ball
Shaped like no proper thing at all.
He shows it to the women: they
All shriek and try to run away,
5790
Making a great show of disgust.
The rogue shows malice in his lust:
The more he outrages decency,
I fear, the better pleased he’ll be.
This must not pass! Give me my stave!
I’ll drive him out, I’ll teach him to behave.
PLUTUS. But now another threat draws near!
Leave him his antics; he has no idea
What’s coming. There’ll be no room for his fooling;
Law rules, but force majeure is overruling.
5800
TUMULT AND SINGING.
The Wild Host comes from the high hills,
Out of the wooded glens it spills:
Who can withstand us now, who can
Resist? We honour our Great Pan.*
A secret known to none we know;
The circle’s empty, in we go!
PLUTUS. I know you well, and your Great Pan. Good speed
Together you have made. I know indeed
That secret known to few; respectfully
I loose the circle’s narrow boundary.—
5810
Now may good fortune still pursue them!
The strangest things may happen to them;
They cannot tell where now they tread,
For they have failed to look ahead.
WILD SINGING. You dressed-up mob, parading vainly!
We come here bare, we come ungainly;
See how we run and leap so far,
How rough and rude and strong we are!
FAUNS. Now fauns advance
In merry dance;
5820
In curly hair
Oak-leaves we wear,
Among our locks each pointed ear
Pricks up so neatly here and here,
Our nose is blunt, our face is broad:
All these are things that women applaud.
A girl will dance and be delighted
When by a faun’s paw she’s invited.
A SATYR. Up pops the satyr now, complete
With scrawny haunches and goat’s feet;
5830
They must be lean and sinewy,
For like a mountain chamois, he
Delights in rocky heights to see
The world. Refreshed in freedom’s air,
He mocks all humankind from there:
Deep in their valleys’ steamy stew
They fancy they are living too,
But high above all taint and throng
Those regions to him alone belong.
GNOMES. Here come the Little Folk, trip-trot;
5840
Not two by two, we’d rather not.
In moss-green smocks, with lamps aglow,
We helter-skelter to and fro,
Each of us doing his own thing,
Like glow-worms swarming, glimmering,
Scuttling busily about,
Hither and thither, in and out.
Dwarves are like us, they’re our close kin.
Rock surgery we specialize in:
We bleed the lofty mountains’ veins,
5850
And out pours treasure for our pains.
We pile up metals we have struck,
With miners’ greetings wishing luck.
All this is thoroughly well meant;
Good men deserve our good intent.
But we bring gold up so that they
May steal and whore, for that’s their way;
With iron weapons we supply
The proud man for whom thousands die.
The three thou shalt nots men ignore
5860
/> Soon have them flouting many more.
All this is not our fault, and you
Must still have patience, as we do.
GIANTS. Here are the Wild Men, that’s our name,
The Wild Men of Harz Mountains fame.
Natural-naked in full strength,
Each with his club a pinetree’s length,
We come as giants big and tall
And thickly girdled one and all
With leaves and branches bound like thatch.
5870
No Pope has bodyguards to match!
NYMPHS IN CHORUS [surrounding GREAT PAN].
Great Pan is here!
In him is shown,
In him alone,
The great world’s sphere.
You happy nymphs, surround him now,
Flitting and dancing round him now;
He’s serious but benevolent
And a friend of merriment.
And he’d be wakeful all day too
5880
Under the heaven’s tent of blue,
But by the breezes he’s caressed
And streamlets murmur him to rest.
And when he is asleep at noon
No leaf or twig will stir too soon;
Life-giving plants are growing there,
Their fragrance fills the soundless air;
No nymph dare stay awake, we fall
Asleep still standing. But his call,
His sudden cry of fearful power,
5890
When it rings out in that same hour
Like thunder or the roaring sea,
Then none knows where to stand or flee,
Brave armies quail, the hero quakes
Hearing such tumult as Pan wakes.
So let us praise this lord who brought
Us here, and hail him as we ought!
A DEPUTATION OF GNOMES [to GREAT PAN].
Though the glinting treasures thread
Richly through the mountain’s heart,
Only the diviner’s art
5900
To that labyrinth is led.
Troglodytically living
In dark caves we hide away:
Yours the gold for gracious giving
In the purer airs of day.
Now this other spring divined
Most conveniently close by
Will miraculously supply
All we scarcely hoped to find.
You can bring this to completion:
5910
Take it, lord, and care for it;
Any wealth in your possession
Is the whole world’s benefit.
PLUTUS [to THE HERALD].
We must be high in spirit, we must face
With resignation what will now take place;
And indeed you are valiant, as I know.
All will deny, even posterity
Will disbelieve this dire calamity,
But in your written record it must show.
THE HERALD [grasping the staff which PLUTUS continues to hold].
The Dwarves, with Great Pan following,
5920
Approach with care the fiery spring;
It boils up from its source, and then
Sinks down into the depths again;
Now dark it stands, the open jaw,
Till glowing broth spews out once more.
Great Pan, whom this strange toy amazes,
In high good humour stands and gazes,
As pearly foam from each side blazes.
Shall he believe his eyes? And low
He stoops, to see if it is so.
5930
But his beard drops into the vat!*—
Whose beard? And whose bare chin is that?
His hand conceals it. Now, alas!
A great misfortune comes to pass:
The beard bursts into flames, blows back,
Wreath, head and breast the flames attack,
And our rejoicing turns to grief.
All rush to quench, to bring relief,
But none escapes the leaping fire;
The more they smack and smite, the higher
5940
The inferno rages. An entire
Tangle of masqueraders, wrapped
In flames, by burning death are trapped.
But what is this report I hear,
From mouth to mouth, from ear to ear?
Oh ever wretched fatal night
That brings us to this dreadful plight!
What none can bear to hear or say
Will be proclaimed this coming day;
And now from loud cries I am learning:
5950
‘It was the Emperor who was burning!’
Oh if it only were not true!
He burns, and his attendants too.
That cursed rout seduced his mind
And came with resinous twigs entwined
To bellow their wild song: now all
Into this general ruin fall.
Oh youth, youth, can you not constrain
Your joy into its purer measures?
Oh majesty, will you never reign
5960
All-powerful, yet with prudent pleasures?
And now the arbours are alight;
The pointed tongues lick upwards, right
Into the coffered ceiling. Why,
We’ll all be burnt now, we’ll all die!
Alas, I fear it will be so.
Who’ll save us from this general woe?
One night, and the imperial state
Lies burnt to ash and desolate.
PLUTUS. Come now, that’s enough alarm!
5970
You shall all be saved from harm.
With our staff now strike the ground,
Let its sacred power resound.
Let the wide air at our will
Now with cooling fragrance fill.
Come, you trails of drifting, sliding
Mist, enveloping and hiding
All this fiery chaos; curl,
Fleecy cloudlets, trickle, swirl,
Breathe your vapours, gently gliding!
5980
You can quench, you can assuage,
You can damp this false fire’s rage:
Do so, and it all shall seem
But the summer lightning’s gleam.—
Thus, when spirit-power assails us,
Magic’s ancient art avails us.
4.A PLEASURE-GARDEN
[Morningsunlight, THE EMPEROR and COURTIERS, FAUST and MEPHISTOPHELES, dressed in a becoming manner, fashionable but unostentatious; both kneeling.]
FAUST. Sire, for the pyrotechnics we apologize.
THE EMPEROR [motioning them to rise].
It was most entertaining; pray devise
Such sport more often! Suddenly it seemed
That I was Pluto, and a great sphere gleamed
5990
And burned about me. A dark rocky pit
Glowed as with fiery coals, and from the depths of it
And of the other, blazed wild flickering flame
Of many thousand tongues, which all became
A single vault, a supreme temple: higher
It rose, forming, unforming out of fire.
Whole peoples moved through the vast colonnade
All round me that the twisting flame-tongues made:
They thronged towards me, circling far and near,
And all, as hitherto, paid homage here.
6000
I recognized my court among these wonders;
I was prince of a thousand salamanders.*
MEPHISTOPHELES. And so you are, Sire, for the elements
All recognize your high pre-eminence.
The submission of fire you have seen first;
Plunge now into the sea at its wild worst,
And scarcely will you touch the pearl-strewn floor
Than a great dome will shape itself once more:
; The mobile waves, light green and purple-fringed,
Into a kingly dwelling shall be changed
6010
Round you, its central point. Go where you please,
Each step you take, you take your palaces
Along with you. That globe’s live walls will swarm
With flickering things all darting to and fro;
Sea-monsters, nuzzling at its strange mild glow,
Approach, but none can pierce the magic form;
Gold-squamous coloured dragons play, the wide-
Jawed shark lunges: you mock him, safe inside.
Your thronging court here takes delight in you,
But such a throng as that you never knew.
6020
Nor are you there debarred from sweetest wishes:
For curious Nereids (young and keen as fishes
Yet shy, or older and more circumspect)
Swim up, your deep-sea lodging to inspect
In its eternal lustre; Thetis too will wed
This modern Peleus and take him to her bed.
Next, high Olympus and the kingdoms there—
THE EMPEROR. Thank you: you may omit the upper air.
One mounts that throne quite soon enough, we’re told.
MEPHISTOPHELES. And, Sire, the earth you already have
and hold.
6030
THE EMPEROR.
What lucky chance has brought you here, straight out
Of the Arabian Nights? You need not doubt,
If you can match Scheherazade’s skill
In story-telling, that I will
Grant you high favour. Let me count on you
When the day’s doings bore me, as they often do.
THE STEWARD [entering hurriedly].
Your Majesty! I never would have thought
I’d one day bring the news I now have brought
Of such good fortune to you! Here I bow
Before you with such joy! For how
6040
Can it be true? The bills are paid,
The usurers’ rage has been allayed
And from their hellish claws I’m free!
Can heaven offer such felicity?
THE ARMY COMMANDER [quickly following him].
The army debt has been half settled,
The oath resworn, the troops refettled,
Their mercenary morale restored,
Landlords all rich, the men all whored.
THE EMPEROR. How light of heart you both seem now,
The wrinkles vanished from your brow,
6050
A quicker step, and cast-off cares!
THE TREASURER [who has also arrived].
Sire, you must ask these two, the work was theirs.
FAUST. It is the Chancellor’s office to explain.
THE CHANCELLOR [approaching slowly].
I am glad not to have lived so long in vain!
Hear then and see this fateful paper, which
Has changed our poverty and made us rich.
[He reads.]
‘To whom it may concern: hereby be advised and told,
The present note is worth a thousand crowns in gold.
B00ARI2G5C EBOK Page 14