Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Page 174
Link.
Whom do they propose?
Metzler.
Maximilian Stumf, or Goetz von Berlichingen.
Link.
That would be well. ’Twould give the thing credit should Goetz accept it. He has ever been held a worthy independent knight. Away, away! We march towards Heilbronn! Pass the word.
Metzler.
The fire will light us a good part of the way. Hast thou seen the great comet?
Link.
Yes. It is a dreadful ghastly sign! As we march by night we can see it well. It rises about one o’clock.
Metzler.
And is visible but for an hour and a quarter, like an arm brandishing a sword, and bloody red!
Link.
Didst thou mark the three stars at the sword’s hilt and point?
Metzler.
And the broad haze-colored stripe illuminated by a thousand streamers like lances, and between them little swords.
Link.
I shuddered with horror. The sky was pale red streaked with ruddy flames, and among them grisly figures with shaggy hair and beards.
Metzler.
Did you see them too? And how they all swam about as though in a sea of blood, and struggled in confusion, enough to turn one’s brain.
Link.
Away! away!
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.
Open Country. In the distance two Villages and an Abbey are burning.
Kohl, Wild, Maximilian. Stumf. Insurgents.
Stumf.
You cannot ask me to be your leader; it were bad for you and for me: I am a vassal of the palsgrave, and how shall I make war against my liege lord? Besides, you would always suspect I did not act from my heart.
Kohl.
We knew well thou would’st make some excuse.
EnterGeorge, Lerse andGoetz.
Goetz.
What would you with me?
Kohl.
You must be our captain.
Goetz.
How can I break my knightly word to the emperor. I am under the ban: I cannot quit my territory.
Wild.
That’s no excuse.
Goetz.
And were I free, and you wanted to deal with the lords and nobles as you did at Weinsberg, laying waste the country round with fire and sword, and should wish me to be an abettor of your shameless, barbarous doings, rather than be your captain, you should slay me like a mad dog!
Kohl.
What has been done cannot be undone.
Stumf.
That was just the misfortune, that they had no leader whom they honored, and who could bridle their fury. I beseech thee, Goetz, accept the office! The princes will be grateful; all Germany will thank thee. It will be for the weal and prosperity of all. The country and its inhabitants will be preserved.
Goetz.
Why dost not thou accept it?
Stumf.
I have given them reasons for my refusal.
Kohl.
We have no time to waste in useless speeches. Once for all! Goetz, be our chief, or look to thy castle and thy head! Take two hours to consider of it. Guard him!
Goetz.
To what purpose? I am as resolved now as I shall ever be. Why have ye risen up in arms? If to recover your rights and freedom, why do you plunder and lay waste the land? Will you abstain from such evil doings, and act as true men who know what they want? Then will I be your chief for eight days, and help you in your lawful and orderly demands.
Wild.
What has been done was done in the first heat, and thy interference is not needed to prevent it for the future.
Kohl.
Thou must engage with us at least for a quarter of a year.
Stumf.
Say four weeks, that will satisfy both parties.
Goetz.
Then be it so.
Kohl.
Your hand!
Goetz.
But you must promise to send the treaty you have made with me in writing to all your troops, and to punish severely those who infringe it.
Wild.
Well, it shall be done.
Goetz.
Then I bind myself to you for four weeks.
Stumf.
Good fortune to you! In whatever thou doest, spare our noble lord the palsgrave.
Kohl.
(Aside.) See that none speak to him without our knowledge.
Goetz.
Lerse, go to my wife. Protect her; you shall soon have news of me.
[ExeuntGoetz, Stumf, George, Lerse and somePeasants.
EnterMetzler, Link and their followers.
Metzler.
Who talks of a treaty? What’s the use of a treaty?
Link.
It is shameful to make any such bargain.
Kohl.
We know as well what we want as you; and we may do or let alone what we please.
Wild.
This raging, and burning, and murdering must have an end some day or other; and by renouncing it just now, we gain a brave leader.
Metzler.
How? An end? Thou traitor! why are we here but to avenge ourselves on our enemies, and enrich ourselves at their expense? Some prince’s slave has been tampering with thee.
Kohl.
Come, Wild, he is like a brute-beast.
[ExeuntWild andKohl.
Metzler.
Ay, go your way; no band will stick by you. The villains! Link, we’ll set on the others to burn Miltenberg yonder; and if they begin a quarrel about the treaty, we’ll cut off the heads of those that made it.
Link.
We have still the greater body of peasants on our side.
[Exeunt withInsurgents.
SCENE III.
A Hill and Prospect of the Country. In the flat scene a Mill. A body of Horsemen.
Weislingen comes out of the Mill, followed byFrancis and aCourier.
Weislingen.
My horse! Have you announced it to the other nobles?
Courier.
At least seven standards will meet you in the wood behind Miltenberg. The peasants are marching in that direction. Couriers are despatched on all sides; the entire confederacy will soon be assembled. Our plan cannot fail; and they say there is dissension among them.
Weislingen.
So much the better. Francis!
Francis.
Gracious sir!
Weislingen.
Discharge thine errand punctually. I bind it upon thy soul. Give her the letter. She shall from the court to my castle instantly. Thou must see her depart, and bring me notice of it.
Francis.
Your commands shall be obeyed.
Weislingen.
Tell her she shall go. (To theCourier.) Lead us by the nearest and best road.
Courier.
We must go round; all the rivers are swollen with the late heavy rains.
SCENE IV.
Jaxthausen.
Elizabeth andLerse.
Lerse.
Gracious lady, be comforted!
Elizabeth.
Alas! Lerse, the tears stood in his eyes when he took leave of me. It is dreadful, dreadful!
Lerse.
He will return.
Elizabeth.
It is not that. When he went forth to gain honorable victories, never did grief sit heavy at my heart. I then rejoiced in the prospect of his return, which I now dread.
Lerse.
So noble a man.
Elizabeth.
Call him not so. There lies the new misery. The miscreants! they threatened to murder his family and burn his castle. Should he return, gloomy, most gloomy shall I see his brow. His enemies will forge scandalous accusations against him, which he will be unable to refute.
Lerse.
He will and can.
Elizabeth.
He has broken his parole — canst thou deny that?
Lerse.
No! he was constrained; w
hat reason is there to condemn him?
Elizabeth.
Malice seeks not reasons, but pretexts. He has become an ally of rebels, malefactors and murderers: he has become their chief. Say No to that.
Lerse.
Cease to torment yourself and me. Have they not solemnly sworn to abjure all such doings as those at Weinsberg? Did I not myself hear them say, in remorse, that, had not that been done already, it never should have been done? Must not the princes and nobles return him their best thanks for having undertaken the dangerous office of leading these unruly people, in order to restrain their rage, and to save so many lives and possessions?
Elizabeth.
Thou art an affectionate advocate. Should they take him prisoner, deal with him as with a rebel, and bring his gray hairs — Lerse, I should go mad!
Lerse.
Send sleep to refresh her body, dear Father of mankind, if Thou deniest comfort to her soul!
Elizabeth.
George has promised to bring news, but he will not be allowed to do so. They are worse than prisoners. Well I know they are watched like enemies. — The gallant boy! he would not leave his master.
Lerse.
The very heart within me bled as I left him. — Had you not needed my help, all the terrors of grisly death should not have separated us.
Elizabeth.
I know not where Sickingen is. — Could I but send a message to Maria!
Lerse.
Write, then. I will take care that she receives it.
[Exit.
SCENE V.
A Village.
EnterGoetz andGeorge.
Goetz.
To horse, George! Quick! I see Miltenberg in flames. — Is it thus they keep the treaty? — Ride to them, tell them my purpose. — The murderous incendiaries — I renounce them. — Let them make a thieving gypsy their captain, not me! — Quick, George! (ExitGeorge.) Would that I were a thousand miles hence, at the bottom of the deepest dungeon in Turkey! — Could I but come off with honor from them! I have thwarted them every day, and told them the bitterest truths, in the hope they might weary of me and let me go.
Enter anUnknown.
Unknown.
God save you, gallant sir!
Goetz.
I thank you! What is your errand? Your name?
Unknown.
My name does not concern my business. I come to tell you that your life is in danger. The insurgent leaders are weary of hearing from you such harsh language, and are resolved to rid themselves of you. Speak them fair, or endeavor to escape from them; and God be with you!
[Exit.
Goetz.
To quit life in this fashion, Goetz, to end thus? But be it so. My death will be the clearest proof to the world that I have had nothing in common with the miscreants.
EnterInsurgents.
First Insurgent.
Captain, they are prisoners, they are slain!
Goetz.
Who?
Second Insurgent.
Those who burned Miltenberg; a troop of confederate cavalry suddenly charged upon them from behind the hill.
Goetz.
They have their reward. O George! George! They have taken him prisoner with the caitiffs. — My George! my George!
EnterInsurgents in confusion.
Link.
Up, sir captain, up! — There is no time to lose — the enemy is at hand, and in force.
Goetz.
Who burned Miltenberg?
Metzler.
If you mean to pick a quarrel, we’ll soon show you how we’ll end it.
Kohl.
Look to your own safety and ours. — Up!
Goetz.
(ToMetzler.) Darest thou threaten me, thou scoundrel? — Thinkest thou to awe me, because thy garments are stained with the Count of Helfenstein’s blood?
Metzler.
Berlichingen!
Goetz.
Thou mayest call me by my name, and my children will not be ashamed to hear it.
Metzler.
Out upon thee, coward! — Prince’s slave!
[Goetz strikes him down. — The others interpose.
Kohl.
Ye are mad! — The enemy are breaking in on all sides, and you quarrel!
Link.
Away! away! [Cries and tumult. — TheInsurgents fly across the stage.
EnterWeislingen andTroopers.
Weislingen.
Pursue! pursue! they fly! — Stop neither for darkness nor rain. — I hear Goetz is among them; look that he escape you not. Our friends say he is sorely wounded. (ExeuntTroopers.) And when I have caught thee — it will be merciful secretly to execute the sentence of death in prison. Thus he perishes from the memory of man, and then, foolish heart, thou mayest beat more freely.
SCENE VI.
The front of a Gypsy-hut in a wild forest. — Night. — A fire before the hut, at which are seated theMother of the Gypsiesand a girl.
Mother.
Throw some fresh straw upon the thatch, daughter: there’ll be heavy rain again to-night.
Enter aGypsy-Boy.
Boy.
A dormouse, mother! and look! two field-mice!
Mother.
I’ll skin them and roast them for thee, and thou shalt have a cap of their skins. Thou bleedest!
Boy.
Dormouse bit me.
Mother.
Fetch some dead wood, that the fire may burn bright when thy father comes: he will be wet through and through.
AnotherGypsy-Woman with a child at her back.
First Woman.
Hast thou had good luck?
Second Woman.
Ill enough. The whole country is in an uproar; one’s life is not safe a moment. Two villages are in a blaze.
First Woman.
Is it fire that glares so yonder? I have been watching it long. One is so accustomed now to fiery signs in the heavens.
TheCaptain of the Gypsies enters with three of his gang.
Captain.
Heard ye the wild huntsman?
First Woman.
He is passing over us now.
Captain.
How the hounds give tongue! Wow! wow!
Second Man.
How the whips crack!
Third Man.
And the huntsmen cheer them. — Hallo — ho!
Mother.
’Tis the devil’s chase.
Captain.
We have been fishing in troubled waters. The peasants rob each other; there’s no harm in our helping them.
Second Woman.
What hast thou got, Wolf?
Wolf.
A hare and a capon, a spit, a bundle of linen, three spoons and a bridle.
Sticks.
I have a blanket and a pair of boots, also a flint and tinder-box.
Mother.
All wet as mire; I’ll dry them, give them here!
[Tramping without.
Captain.
Hark! — A horse! Go see who it is.
EnterGoetz on horseback.
Goetz.
I thank thee, God! I see fire — they are gypsies. — My wounds bleed sorely — my foes are close behind me! — Great God, this is a fearful end!
Captain.
Is it in peace thou comest?
Goetz.
I crave help from you — my wounds exhaust me — assist me to dismount!
Captain.
Help him! — A gallant warrior in look and speech.
Wolf.
(Aside.) ’Tis Goetz von Berlichingen!
Captain.
Welcome! welcome! — All that we have is yours.
Goetz.
Thanks, thanks!
Captain.
Come to my hut!
[Exeunt to the hut.
SCENE VII.
Inside the Hut.
Captain, Gypsies andGoetz.
Captain.
Call our mother — tell her to bring bloodwort and bandag
es. (Goetz unarms himself.) Here is my holiday doublet.
Goetz.
God reward you!
[TheMother binds his wounds.
Captain.
I rejoice that you are come.
Goetz.
Do you know me?
Captain.
Who does not know you, Goetz? Our lives and heart’s blood are yours.
EnterSticks.
Sticks.
Horsemen are coming through the wood. They are confederates.
Captain.
Your pursuers! They shall not harm you. Away, Sticks, call the others: we know the passes better than they. We shall shoot them ere they are aware of us.
[ExeuntCaptain andMen-Gypsies with their guns.
Goetz.
(Alone.) O Emperor! Emperor! Robbers protect thy children. (A sharp firing.) The wild foresters! Steady and true!
EnterWomen.
Women.
Flee! flee! The enemy has overpowered us.
Goetz.
Where is my horse?
Women.
Here!
Goetz.
(Girds on his sword and mounts without his armor.) For the last time shall you feel my arm. I am not so weak yet.
[Exit. — Tumult.
Women.
He gallops to join our party.
[Firing.
EnterWolf.
Wolf.
Away! Away! All is lost. — The captain is shot! — Goetz a prisoner.
[TheWomen scream and fly into the wood.
SCENE VIII.
Adelaide’sBedchamber.
EnterAdelaide with a letter.
Adelaide.
He or I! The tyrant — to threaten me! We will anticipate him. Who glides through the ante-chamber? (A low knock at the door.) Who is there?
Francis.
(In a low voice.) Open, gracious lady!
Adelaide.
Francis! He well deserves that I should admit him.
[Opens the door.
Francis.
(Throws himself on her neck.) My dear, my gracious lady!
Adelaide.
What audacity! If any one should hear you?
Francis.
Oh — all — all are asleep.
Adelaide.
What would’st thou?
Francis.
I cannot rest. The threats of my master. — your fate, — my heart.
Adelaide.
He was incensed against me when you parted from him?
Francis.
He was as I have never seen him. — To my castle, said he, she must — she shall go.
Adelaide.
And shall we obey?
Francis.
I know not, dear lady!
Adelaide.
Thou foolish, infatuated boy! Thou dost not see where this will end. Here he knows I am in safety. He has long had designs on my freedom, and therefore wishes to get me to his castle — there he will have power to use me as his hate shall dictate.