Three Major Plays

by Lope de Vega

And yet I should, for are not gallantry

  And bravery essential arms

  For any man connected with

  The military life, not least

  In one of such distinguished line 905

  And family?

  -199-

  MARQUIS. The compliment

  Is most appreciated. As from

  Today your wish is my command,

  And I, if you agree, shall pay

  For such festivities Ferrara now 910

  Demands of all its gentlemen.

  I thank you once again, most noble,

  Honourable lady.

  DUKE. The time has come

  For you to rest.* To take more time

  In greeting you repeats the same 915

  Mistake that other husbands in

  The past have made. Let no one say

  This husband is another fool,

  Or love that I abuse this jewel.

  [Exit all with great ceremony, except FEDERICOand BATÍN

  FEDERICO. Oh, foolish, wild imagination! 920

  BATÍN. What's foolish, master? What goes on?

  FEDERICO. The man who says this life's a dream*

  Is justified. We see such things

  Not merely while we sleep but when

  We are awake that in some sick 925

  Or fevered individual

  Would be dismissed as lies.

  BATÍN. Oh, yes,

  I quite agree. I swear that when

  It comes to seeing things* I always get

  First prize. I do occasionally find 930

  Myself with other gentlemen,

  When I -- I don't know why -- am seized

  By some mysterious urge to grab

  Their throats and have a go at them.

  And if I do this reckless thing 935

  While standing on some balcony,

  I'll break into a sudden sweat

  And watch my life rush past me.

  -200-

  Or maybe I am sat in church,

  And have to hear some boring text, 940

  I can't help shouting at the bloke:

  'Why can't we have a talk on sex?'

  Or maybe it's a feller's funeral,

  There am I, one of the crowd,

  And seeing how they weep and groan, 945

  I feel the urge to laugh out loud.

  And if I see a game of cards,

  And worry on the player's face,

  I'll whisper as I'm going past:

  'You'll never win. He's got the ace.' 950

  Or maybe it's some lovely piece

  I can but fancy in my bed;

  You'd think I'd asked her to her face,

  The way my pasty face goes red.

  FEDERICO. May heaven protect me from such thoughts 955

  And dreams that, though I am awake,

  Refuse to let me rest! How can

  I think these things? How can it be

  That longings such as these possess

  Me so entirely? I can explain 960

  It only as some form of utter madness.

  BATÍN. I think you'd better tell me what

  It is in that case. Come on, master! Do

  Confess!

  FEDERICO. It's nothing that I've done,

  Batín. It's only something that 965

  I've dreamed. And since it never was,

  Is not, or shall be, like all dreams,

  Is pure fantasy. How can

  You, therefore, say that I indulge

  In any kind of secrecy? 970

  BATÍN. You'd better know, my lord, you can't

  Fool me. I know exactly* what

  This secret is.

  -201-

  FEDERICO. I think the sky

  Might be ablaze with flowers,* the grass

  Adorned with showers of bright stars 975

  Before you guess with any certainty.

  BATÍN. You think so, master? Well, let's see

  If I am right. I know you like

  Your stepmother, and if we then

  Put two and two together, that 980

  Makes . . .

  FEDERICO. No. Do not say more! But even if

  It's true, am I to blame? Are not

  Our thoughts at least completely free?

  BATÍN. So free, my lord, a man can see

  The nature of his thoughts as clearly 985

  As in a mirror.

  FEDERICO. My father is

  The happiest of men.

  BATÍN. Say that again.

  FEDERICO. I envy him. He has what is

  For me impossible.

  BATÍN. That's true.

  And her more suitable* by far 990

  For you. You do quite right to envy him.

  FEDERICO. Then I shall die of love that is

  Impossible and at the same

  Time prove that for a son to be

  So jealous of his father is 995

  Quite possible.

  -202-

  ACT TWO

  Enter CASANDRAand LUCRECIA.

  LUCRECIA. Your ladyship. I am amazed

  By this.

  CASANDRA. You think nobility

  A guarantee against unhappiness?

  It's even worse when there is vileness such

  As this. What would I give to be 5

  An ordinary peasant-girl;

  To wake and find myself beside

  Some good and honest countryman,*

  Rather than dress in silk and gold and be

  Despised by such a nobleman! 10

  If I were only someone of

  Low birth, I would have found a man

  Who'd cherish me and at the same

  Time recognize my proper worth.

  There is as much contentment to 15

  Be found with someone of low origin

  As with some noble lord, if we

  But realize that love at night

  Is doubly blind,* despises lineage,

  And offers everyone the same reward. 20

  The sun that with each dawn pours through

  The finest window-pane will not

  Find any man and wife embrace

  More happily, or in some palace lie

  More peacefully, than when it peeps 25

  Through cracks in rustic walls, and sees

  In happy couples joined one soul.

  The wife is blessed who does not know

  The nobleman's disdain; who, when

  The morning comes, can rise and know 30

  Her husband's love will never change.

  -203-

  The girl is happy too who washes in

  The clear stream, quite free from care,

  And, when she dries her face, knows well

  She does not wipe away those tears 35

  That she would shed if she were told

  Her husband favoured someone else's bed.

  He held me in his arms one night

  In one entire month, since when

  He has despised the very sight 40

  Of me. But why complain that he

  Behaves like this when we are told,

  Through history, that men, however much

  They try to change,* obey those tendencies

  That guide them from their birth? Besides, 45

  The man who spends the nights away

  From home will not be judged so badly by

  The world when freedom to indulge

  Himself* is held to be man's privilege.

  But that a man should treat a woman of 50

  High birth with such contempt, a wife

  With scorn, must surely be a sign

  He is a total fool who'll soon

  Regret the day that he was born.

  The Duke is of the school that thinks 55

  A wife is something to adorn

  His house: an ornament, a piece

  Of furniture to call his own,

  An item he's gone out and bought

  To decorate his drawing-room. 60


  I will not willingly accept

  Such terms, nor easily believe

  That any man who loves his wife

  Will use such methods to destroy

  Her life and happiness; for if 65

  She's genuine, a woman wants

  To be a wife and mother, not

  Another stick of furniture.

  And if her husband proves a thankless man,

  That's bad enough, without insulting her 70

  -204-

  As often as he possibly can.

  And if he gives her cause to think

  These things, much better try to put

  Them right than leave them till it's far

  Too late.

  LUCRECIA. My lady, everything 75

  You tell me fills me both with sadness and

  Astonishment. That you should feel

  Resentment such as this for what

  He's done to you! Who would have thought

  The Duke, once wed, would in so short 80

  A time neglect his marriage-bed,

  Or when he chooses to neglect

  You so, would have such scant

  Respect for you? If he were just

  A young gallant, you'd understand 85

  He'd want you to feel jealousy

  And try to keep complacency

  At bay. He might pretend he wasn't keen

  On you, or praise some girl he'd seen

  The other day, or maybe crack a joke 90

  To show her how amusing he

  Could be as she went by. But for a man

  To move a wife to jealousy

  By treating her like this, it seems

  To me, deserves a place in history. 95

  You really ought to write and let

  Your father know just what the Duke

  Has done to you.

  CASANDRA. I can't, Lucrecia.

  My eyes shall be the only witness to

  My misery.

  LUCRECIA. If I judged this 100

  By nature's law and all that's fair,

  There's not a scrap of doubt you and

  The Count would make a better pair

  By far. And if he'd married you,

  -205-

  Your son would guarantee the Duke's 105

  Estate. From what I've seen of him,

  The Count seems very sad of late.

  CASANDRA. I cannot think he's sad because

  He's thinking of some future son

  That I might bear the Duke. It's far 110

  More likely there'll be more to worry him.

  If anything has brought about

  His melancholy state, it is

  The thought that both of us are but

  The playthings of our destiny.* 115

  Exit CASANDRAand LUCRECIA. Enter the

  DUKE, FEDERICO, and BATÍN.

  DUKE. If I had thought, my son, that sadness such

  As this would be the outcome of

  My marriage, I'd never have considered it.

  FEDERICO. My lord, if that were true, it would

  Be madness on my part. I know 120

  You do not love me less for it.

  If your marriage had distressed

  Me, as you now suggest, I would

  Have done my very best to hide

  Unhappiness. The truth is this: 125

  My face proclaims I am unwell.

  The cause of it, no one can tell.

  DUKE. The doctors of Ferrara have

  Consulted with their counterparts

  From Mantua, and wondered what 130

  The cause of such a malady

  Might be. They seem to think -- and I

  Agree with them -- that marriage is

  A medicine designed to soothe and ease

  Away the ills associated with 135

  The deepest melancholy.

  FEDERICO. I think that may be so as far

  As women are concerned, but as for me,

  -206-

  I doubt it would be any kind

  Of remedy.

  Enter CASANDRAand LUCRECIA.

  CASANDRA. You see? The Duke 140

  Ignores me even now. The man

  Exceeds the bounds of common decency!

  LUCRECIA. How can you blame him, madam? I doubt

  That he has even seen you.

  CASANDRA. That's his

  Excuse. To add pretence to his 145

  Neglect is but a further cruelty.

  Unless I am mistaken, I

  Shall see to it that one day he

  Shall pay for everything he's done to me.

  [Exit CASANDRAand LUCRECIA

  DUKE. Unless I am completely wrong, 150

  I have in mind a match that you

  Might even welcome, given that

  You like the girl, and she is of

  This kingdom.

  FEDERICO. You mean Aurora?

  DUKE. You read

  My thoughts as though they are your own. 155

  I have consulted all the wisest men

  At Court. They say that marriage ought

  To help eradicate the malady.

  FEDERICO. Which only goes to prove they do

  Not know me, if, as you have said, 160

  They think I am aggrieved, and thoughts

  Provoked by jealousy now fill

  My head. They know I did not say

  A single word against the marriage;

  Rather, I approved of it, and felt 165

  It must be for your good.

  -207-

  DUKE. I know

  You did, my son. But loyalty

  Like this deserves at least that I

  Should say to you that I regret

  The day I chose to marry.

  FEDERICO. My lord, 170

  If you want proof your marriage does

  Not sadden me, and more than that,

  That you enjoy my love, I'll ask

  Aurora if it is her honest wish

  To marry me. If she says yes, 175

  I shall be happy to obey.

  It would be wrong of me to do

  The opposite of what you say.

  DUKE. To judge by what she's said, she eagerly

  Awaits that day.

  FEDERICO. I think she may 180

  Have changed, and that explains why now

  She has the Marquis constantly

  In train.

  DUKE. And why is that of such

  Concern to you?

  FEDERICO. Because the man

  About to marry does not want 185

  To think that some gallant commands

  His lady's thoughts, or when he marries her

  That she's already bought.

  DUKE. If men

  Were constantly concerned about

  The women in their lives, they'd have 190

  To lock them up to keep them safe*

  From prying eyes. Think of a mirror as

  You breathe on it; the image disappears.

  But take a cloth to clean the glass,

  The surface that was soiled appears clear. 195

  -208-

  FEDERICO. I value such advice and wit

  But offer you a different thought

  That surely must counter it.

  A blacksmith working in his forge,

  When suddenly the furnace roars, 200

  And spits its flames -- at once he pours

  On water, thinking it will tame

  The blaze, instead of which it is

  Inflamed much more and in the end

  Consumes the water. The same is true 205

  Of any husband who, at first,

  Believes he has contained the lover's fire

  But then observes the flames of love

  Leap higher still. And so I would

  Do well to fear any man 210

  Who loves, and not provide for him

  The water that inflames his love

  And in the process burns my honour.*
r />   DUKE. You speak most foolishly, as though

  Aurora's purity were something you 215

  Consider blackened. I'll not listen

  Any more.

  FEDERICO. My lord.

  DUKE. I said no more.

  [Exit the DUKE

  FEDERICO. Wait, my lord.

  BATÍN. I do admire, master

  The way you try to win your father's favour.

  FEDERICO. I welcome his displeasure more, 220

  So I can truly say I have enjoyed

  The fullest measure of unhappiness.

  The depth of my despair* is such,

  I do not really care if I

  Should die; and if I were to die, 225

  I'd want to live a thousand times

  -209-

  Again, so I could die again

  As many times as I had lived.

  And yet I neither wish to live

  Nor die, because to live means I 230

  Must suffer anguish in its way

  As terrible as death; and if

  I do not kill myself, it is

  Because death is a lesser evil than

  The pain that in this life I am 235

  Obliged to bear.

  BATÍN. In that case, if

  You neither wish to live or die,

  I'd say that you are just like what

  They call hermaphrodite,* which is

  To say a person who is neither man 240

  Or woman really, but a bit

  Of both of them, as you yourself

  Are split between not knowing if

  You are alive or dead. I tell

  You truly, sir, the piteous sight 245

  Of you upsets me so, you either tell

  Me what is wrong with you or I

  Shall go and be a servant somewhere else.

  FEDERICO. Batín, if I were able to describe

  What troubles me, it would be bearable, 250

  A malady whose end would then

  Seem possible. And yet, the anguish that

  I feel is so intense, so terrible,

  It cannot be described but only felt.

  And if, in order to console 255