Templar: Nathan, thy hand; I blush To have mistaken thee. We will be friends. Hark you, the maid, your daughter, whom I saved, Makes me forget that I am partly monk. How say you; may I hope?
Nathan: Your suit, young man, Must be considered calmly. Give me time To know your lineage and your character. A parent must be careful of his child.
[Enter Daya.
Daya: The sultan sends for thee in haste.
Nathan: I'll go.
[Pg 233]
Knight, take it not amiss.
Templar: I'll quit you first. Farewell! [Exit.
Nathan: 'Tis not alone my Leonard's walk, But even his stature and his very voice. Filnek and Stauffen�I will soon know more.
Scene III.�A room in Nathan's house. Recha and Daya. A slave shows in the Templar.
Recha: 'Tis he, my saviour! Ah!
Templar: Thou best of beings, How is my soul 'twixt eye and ear divided.
Recha: Well, knight, why thus refuse to look at me?
Templar: Because I wish to hear you.
Recha: Nay, because You would not have me notice that you smile At my simplicity.
Templar: Ah, no; ah, no. How truly said thy father, "Do but know her." Yet now I must attend him. There is danger.
Scene IV.�Saladin's audience chamber. Saladin and Nathan.
Saladin: Draw nearer, Jew. Your name is Nathan?
Nathan: Yea.
Saladin: Nathan the Wise?
Nathan: Ah, no.
Saladin: Of modesty Enough, your words and bearing prove you wise. Now, since you are so wise, tell me which law Appears to you the better.
Nathan: Once on a time, eastward, there dwelt a man Who prized a ring, set with a wondrous opal That made the owner loved of God and man. This ring he willed should ever more remain The heirloom of his house; and to the son
[Pg 234]
He loved the best bequeathed it, binding him To leave it also to his best beloved, And forward so. At length the ring descended To one who had three sons he loved alike. To each in turn the doting father promis�d The ring, and on his death-bed, sorely grieving To disappoint two heirs, he had two rings Made like the first, so close that none could tell The model from the copies. These he gave To his three sons in secret, and so passed. The sequel may be guessed, the strifes, complaints� For the true ring no more could be distinguished Than now can�the true faith. Each to the judge Swore that he had the bauble from his father, And called his brother forger. Quoth the judge: "Which of you do his brothers love the best? You're silent all. You're all deceived deceivers! None of your rings is true, the true is gone. Your father sought to end its tyranny. Let each believe his own the real ring And vie with others to display its virtue. And if its power a thousand thousand years Endure in your descendants, let them then Before a wiser judge than I appear, And he'll decide the cause."
Saladin: Even God Himself!
Nathan: Art thou, O Saladin, this wiser judge?
Saladin: Not yet have sped the thousand thousand years. His judgment seat's not mine. Go, go, but love me.
Nathan: Hath Saladin no further need of me? Perchance my stores might furnish forth thy wars.
Saladin: Is this Al Hafi's hint? I'll not disown My object was to ask��
Nathan: Thou shouldst have all But that I owe a weighty debt to one� The Templar thou didst spare.
[Pg 235]
Saladin: I had forgot him.
Nathan: He saved my daughter from the flames.
Saladin: Ah, so? He looked a hero. Bring him hither; Sittah must see our brother's counterfeit.
Nathan: I'll fetch him. For the rest, we are agreed.
Scene V.�The Place of Palms. Daya and the Templar.
Daya: Knight, swear to me that you will make her yours; Make both her present and eternal welfare. Listen. She is a Christian, and no child Of Nathan's.
Templar: Are you sure of what you say?
Daya: It cost me tears of blood. She does not know She is a Christian born.
Templar: And Nathan reared Her in this error, and persists in it? Oh, it confounds me�go; and let me think.
[Exeunt.
Act III
Scene I.�The cloisters of a convent. Athanasios the Patriarch, and the Templar.
Athanasios: Heaven keep you in your valour, good Sir Knight! You seek my counsel? It is yours; say on.
Templar: Suppose, my reverend father, that a Jew Brought up a Christian child, in ignorance Of her own faith and lineage, as his daughter, What then?
Athanasios: Is this mere supposition, sir? If in our diocese such impious act
[Pg 236]
Were done in truth, the Jew should die by fire. You will not name the man? I'll to the sultan, Who will support us.
Templar: I'll to Saladin, And will announce your visit.
Athanasios: Was it then A problem merely? Nay, this is a job For Brother Bonafides. Here, my son!
[Exit Athanasios, talking with the friar.
Scene II.�A room at the palace of Saladin. Slaves bring in money-bags to Saladin and Sittah.
Saladin (to Sittah): Here, pay yourself with that. And look, I found This portrait 'midst the heap of plate and jewels. It is our brother Assad. I'll compare The likeness with our Templar. Ah, who's there? The Templar? Bid him enter.
[Enter the Templar.
Templar: Saladin, Thy captive, sire, who's life is at thy service!
Saladin: Ah, brave young man, I'm not deceived in thee. Thou art indeed, in soul and body, Assad! Came Nathan with thee?
Templar: Who?
Saladin: Who? Nathan
Templar (coldly): No.
Saladin: Why so cold?
Templar: I've nothing against Nathan, But I am angry with myself alone For dreaming that a Jew could be no Jew. He was so cautious of my suit that I, In swift resentment, though unwitting, gave Him over to the Patriarch's bloody rage. Sultan, the maiden is no child of his;
[Pg 237]
She is a Christian whom the Jew hath reared In ignorance of her faith. The Patriarch Foredooms him to the stake.
Saladin: Go to, go to. The case is scarcely hopeless. Summon Nathan, And I shall reconcile you. If indeed You're earnest for the maid, she shall be thine.
Scene III.�The hall in Nathan's house. Nathan and the friar, Bonafides.
Bonafides: The Patriarch hath ever work for me, And some I like not. Listen. He hath heard That hereabouts there dwells a certain Jew Who hath brought up a Christian as his child.
Nathan: How?
Bonafides: Hear me out. I fear me that I gave Occasion for this sin, when I, a squire, Brought you, full eighteen years ago, the babe, The orphan babe of Leonard, Lord of Filnek. He fell at Askalon.
Nathan: Ay so; and I, Bereft by Christians of my wife and sons, Received the infant as a gift from Heaven, And made it mine. And now, belike, I suffer For this my charity. But tell me now, Was not the mother sister to a Templar, Conrade of Stauffen?
Bonafides: Let me fetch a book, In Arabic, I had from my dead lord. 'Tis said to tell the lineage of the babe.
Nathan: Go, fetch it quickly.
[Exeunt.
Scene IV.�A place of palms. Nathan and the Templar.
Nathan: Who hath betrayed me to the Patriarch?
Templar: Alas! 'twas I. You took my suit so coldly
[Pg 238]
That when from Daya I had learned your secret, I fancied you had little mind to give A Christian what from Christians you had taken. I thought to use my knowledge as a lever, And so, not having you, I put the matter In problem-wise before the Patriarch. Suppose he find you out. What then? He cannot Seize Recha, if she be no longer yours. Ah! give her then, to me, and let him come.
Nathan: Too late! You are too late, for I have found Her kinsfolk. Hark you, Recha has a brother.
Templar: Well, he's the man to fit her with a husband. Of thee and me she'll have no longer need.
Scene V.�Saladin's palace. Saladin and his sister, Sittah, are talking with Recha.
Sittah: Ah! I guessed it.
Recha: Guessed it? What? that I Am Christian and not Nathan's daughter?
[She swoons.
Saladin: What! Whose cruelty hath sown this sharp suspicion In thy fond heart? Ah! if there be two fathers At strife for thee, quit both, and take a third. Take Saladin for father! I'll be kind.
Sittah: Brother, you make her blush.
Saladin: In a good hour. Blushing becomes the fair. But see, our Nathan's coming, with another. Canst guess, sweet girl? Ay, when he comes, blush crimson.
[Enter Nathan and the Templar.
Come, stickle not for niceties with him. Make him thy offer, doing for him more, Far more, than he for thee, for what was that But make himself a little sooty. Come!
[Seeks to lead her to the Templar.
[Pg 239]
Nathan (solemnly): Hold, Saladin; hold, Sittah! There's another Whom I must speak with first�the maiden's brother.
Templar (bitterly): He has imposed a father on her, now He'll shark her up a brother! Where's the man?
Nathan: Patience sir.
Saladin: Christian, such words as yours had never passed My Assad's lips.
Nathan: Forgive him, Saladin. Oh! Christian, you have hid from me your name. Conrade of Stauffen is no name of yours, But Guy of Filnek�mark. I tax you not With falsehood; for your mother was a Stauffen. Her brother's name was Conrade. He perchance Adopted you?
Templar: Even so the matter stands.
Nathan: Your father was my friend. He called himself Leonard of Filnek, but no German he. He had espoused a German.
Templar: Ah! no more, I beg, but tell me who is Recha's brother.
Nathan: Thou art the man!
Templar: What, I? I Recha's brother?
Recha: My brother�he?
Sittah: So near akin�
Recha (offering to embrace him): My brother!
Templar: (withdrawing): Brother to her!
Recha (to Nathan): It cannot be. His heart Knows nothing of it.
Saladin: What! not acknowledge A sister such as she? Go!
Templar: Saladin! Mistake not my amazement. Thy Assad At such a moment, had done likewise.
[Pg 240]
Oh, Nathan, you have taken, you have given� Yes, infinitely more�my sister�sister!
[Embraces Recha.
Nathan: Blanda of Filnek! Guy! My children both!
Sittah: Oh! I am deeply moved.
Saladin: And I half tremble At thought of the emotion still to be. Nathan, you say her father was no German. What was he, then?
Nathan: He never told me that. But ah! he loved the Persian speech and owned He was no Frank.
Saladin: The Persian! Need I more? Twas my Assad!
Nathan: Look in this book!
Saladin: Ay! 'tis his hand, even his. Oh, Sittah, Sittah, they're my brother's children.
[He rushes to embrace them. Sittah also embraces the pair.
Now, now, proud boy, thou canst not choose but love me. (To Recha) And I to thee am all I sought to be, With or without thy leave.
Templar: I of thy blood? Then all the tales I heard In infancy were more than idle dreams.
[Falls at Saladin's feet.
Saladin (raising him): There's malice for you! Knew it all the time, And yet he would have let me murder him. Boy, boy! [They embrace in silence.
FOOTNOTES:
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, one of the greatest names in German literature, was born January 22, 1729, at Kamenz, in Saxon Upper Lusatia, where his father was a clergyman of the most orthodox Lutheran school. After working very hard for five years at a school in Meissen, he proceeded to the University of Leipzig, in 1746, with the intention of studying theology, but he soon began to occupy himself with other matters, made the acquaintance of actors, and acquired a great fondness for dramatic entertainment. This sort of life, however, pained his strict relatives, who pronounced it "sinful," and for a short time Lessing went home. Later he proceeded to Berlin, and while there, formed many valuable literary friendships, and established the best literary journal of his time. "Nathan the Wise" ("Nathan der Weise") arose out of a bitter theological controversy in which Lessing had been engaged. It was written during the winter of 1778-79, and expresses ideas and theories its author had already largely developed in prose. Primarily the play is a strong plea for tolerance, the governing conception being that noble character belongs to no particular creed, but to all creeds, as set forth herein in the parable of the wonderful ring. And thus it follows that there is no sufficient reason why people holding one set of religious opinions should not tolerate others who maintain totally different doctrines. Purely as a drama the play may be disappointing, but regarded as a poem it ranks with the noblest dramatic literature of the eighteenth century. The characters abound in vitality, and some of the passages rise to heights of great splendour. Lessing died on February 15, 1781 (see also Vol. XX, p. 239).
[Pg 241]
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW[T]
Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie
I.�The Betrothal and the Exile
On the night when Evangeline, the beautiful daughter of Benedict Bellefontaine, the richest farmer of Grand-Pr�, was to be betrothed to Gabriel, the son of Basil Lajeunesse the blacksmith, the two fathers were engaged in discussing the reason of the presence of several English war vessels which were riding at anchor at the mouth of the Gaspereau. Basil was inclined to take a gloomy view, and Benedict a hopeful one, when the arrival of the notary put an end to his discussion.
[Pg 242]
Then Evangeline lighted the brazen lamp on the table,
Filled, till it overflowed, the pewter tankard with brown ale,
While from his pocket the notary drew his papers and ink-horn,
Wrote with a steady hand the date and the age of the parties,
And the great seal of the law was set like a sun on the margin.
Then the notary, rising and blessing the bride and bridegroom,
Lifted aloft the tankard of ale, and drank to their welfare.
Wiping the foam from his lips, he solemnly bowed and departed,
While in silence the others sat and mused by the fireside,
Till Evangeline brought the draught board out of its corner.
Soon was the game begun. In friendly contention the old men
Laughed at each lucky hit, or unsuccessful manoeuvre.
Meanwhile, apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's embrasure,
Sat the lovers, and whispered together, beholding the moon rise
Over the pallid sea, and the silvery mists of the meadows.
Pleasantly rose next morn. And lo! with a summons sonorous,
Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a drum beat.
Thronged ere long was the church with men. Without, in the churchyard,
Waited the women. They stood by the graves, and hung on the headstones
Garlands of autumn leaves and evergreens fresh from the forest.
Then came the guards from the ships, and entered the sacred portal.
Straight uprose their commander, and spake from the steps of the altar.
[Pg 243]
"You are convened this day," he said, "by his majesty's orders.
Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must be grievous.
Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our monarch;
Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of all kinds,
Forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from the province
Be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell there
Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable people!"
In the midst of the tumult and angry contention that broke out,
Lo! the door of the chancel opened, and Father Felician
Entered with solemn mien, and ascended the steps of the altar.
Raising his hand, with a gesture he awed the throng into silence.
"What is this that ye do?" he said. "What madness has seized you?
Forty years of my life have I laboured among you and taught you,
Not in word alone, but in deed, to love one another!
Is this the fruit of my toils, of my vigils and prayers and privations?
Have you so soon forgotten all lessons of love and forgiveness?"
Few were his words of rebuke, but deep in the hearts of his people
Sank they, and sobs of contrition succeeded the passionate outbreak,
While they repeated his prayer, and said, "O Father, forgive them!"
[Pg 244]
Four times the sun had risen and set; and now on the fifth day
Cheerily called the cock to the sleeping maids of the farmhouse.
Soon o'er the yellow fields, in silent and mournful procession,
Came from the neighbouring hamlets and farms the Acadian women,
Driving in ponderous wains their household goods to the seashore,
Pausing and looking back to gaze once more on their dwellings,
Ere they were shut from sight by the winding road and the woodland.
Close at their sides their children ran, and urged on the oxen,
While in their little hands they clasped some fragments of playthings.
Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth they hurried; and there on the sea-beach,
Piled in confusion, lay the household goods of the peasants.
Great disorder prevailed, and the tumult and stir of embarking
Busily plied the freighted boats; and in the confusion
Wives were torn from their husbands, and mothers, too late, saw their children
Left on the land, extending their arms, with wildest entreaties.
So unto separate ships were Basil and Gabriel carried,
While in despair on the shore Evangeline stood with her father.
Suddenly rose from the south a light, as in autumn the blood-red
Moon climbs the crystal wall of heaven, and o'er the horizon,
[Pg 245]
Titan-like, stretches its hundred hands upon the mountain and meadow,
Seizing the rocks and the rivers, and piling huge shadows together.
Broader and ever broader it gleamed on the roofs of the village,
Gleamed on the sky and sea, and the ships that lay in the roadstead.
Columns of shining smoke uprose, and flashes of flame were
Thrust through their folds and withdrawn, like the quivering hands of a martyr.
Then as the wind seized the gleeds and the burning thatch, and, uplifting,
Whirled them aloft through the air, at once from a hundred housetops
Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame intermingled.
Overwhelmed with the sight, yet speechless, the priest and the maidens
Gazed on the scene of terror that reddened and widened before them;
And as they turned at length to speak to their silent companion,
Lo! from his seat he had fallen, and stretched abroad on the seashore,