Three Major Plays (34 page)

FEDERICO. Not I, for I
Am mad already.

CASANDRA. My soul consumed
With pain.

FEDERICO. My life as if destroyed
By flames.

CASANDRA. What can we do?

FEDERICO. What else
Is there to do but die?

CASANDRA. Is there

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No other way?

FEDERICO. If what we do
Means losing you, why should I live
Another day?

CASANDRA. The remedy
Is not to lose me.

FEDERICO. It would be best,

I think, if from today I served

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Aurora once again, invented love,
And asked the Duke to let me marry her.
It is the obvious way to keep
Us clear of suspicion, before

The gossip in the palace harms

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Our reputation.

CASANDRA. There is no way
I'll let you marry her. To do so adds
An insult to this injury.

FEDERICO. The danger we now face obliges me.

CASANDRA. I swear that if you contemplate

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Such treachery when you are most
To blame for this, the world shall hear
Me voice aloud both my own guilt
And your infamy.

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FEDERICO. My lady, please.

CASANDRA. You'll not dissuade me.

FEDERICO. Everyone

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Will hear.

CASANDRA. I do not care. The Duke
Can take away my life, but you,
I swear, will never marry her.

Enter
FLORO, FEBO, RICARDO, ALBANO,
LUCINDO, and the DUKE, handsomely
dressed as a soldier.

RICARDO. It seems they are not ready yet
To welcome you, my lord.

DUKE. It is

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Because my love has brought me here
More swiftly than they thought.

CASANDRA. My dear husband, you have caught
Us unprepared to greet you as
We should.

FEDERICO. The Duchess is aggrieved

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Without good cause. The fault is mine
Entirely, my lord.

DUKE. My son,
A father's love can never cease
To love his flesh and blood. It made

My journey short and guaranteed

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The longing and the weariness I felt
Should be transformed into this final good.
And you, my lady, are most worthy of
A love that is at least its rival.

Do not, I beg, feel slighted if

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I speak to both of you as equals.

CASANDRA. Your blood and Federico's goodness, sir,
Demand you favour him; I therefore must
Be pleased you treat me just the same.

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DUKE. I know that I am favoured by

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You both and truly cannot say
How much such love as this is worth
To me. I also know that Federico has
Administered the state most prudently

While I have been away, and not

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A single vassal disagrees.
To tell the truth, while I was so
Preoccupied with lance and sword,
It gladdened me to know my son was here

Instead of me, a prudent overlord.

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I offer thanks to God that when
The Church's enemies
^*
observed
Our might, it was not long before
They sought escape in cowardly flight.

The Holy Father greeted me

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Triumphantly in Rome, and then
The city joyously, as if
I were some conquering Spanish Trajan.
^*
On that account I am resolved

To be a better man than I

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Have been and let my virtue, not
My vices, now be seen by everyone.
For when a man wins such applause,
And all in virtue's name, he would

Be foolish if his vices then

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Acquired even greater fame.

RICARDO. Aurora and the Marquis wait
On you, my lord.

Enter
AURORA
and the
MARQUIS.

AURORA. I welcome you,
My lord, as someone truly glad
To see you home.

MARQUIS. And I as someone whose

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Affection is already known.

DUKE. I thank you and embrace you both.

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The consolation for the tedious months
Away is to anticipate

The joy of such a day as this.

315

But now, my dear friends, I need
To rest. I guarantee that when
Day comes, we'll spend the rest
Of it in joyous celebration.

FEDERICO. God bless the Duke and for eternity

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His glorious life prolong.

[
Exit all, except
RICARDO
and
BATÍN

BATÍN. Ricardo, good to see you!

RICARDO. Good
To see you too, Batín.

BATÍN. How was
It then? You know . . . I mean the fighting.

RICARDO. A case of heaven protecting us,

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So in the end we simply had to be
Victorious. You should see Lombardy.
No, not a pretty sight, and all
The enemy retreating fast

To save their skins in shameful flight.

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The mighty lion
^*
of the Church
Roared loud -- and all of them at once
Just disappeared in a cloud
Of dust. The Duke's a famous man
The length and breadth of Italy. 335
They celebrate his victories
As once upon a time they praised
King Saul and David
^*
for the way
They routed all their enemies.

Not only that; because of what he's done,

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The Duke's become a different man.
He doesn't chase the women any more;
He doesn't spend his time, as he
Was wont to do, in idle pleasure.

I swear that his entire thoughts

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Are dedicated to Casandra; and,
Of course, Federico. In short, the Duke's
Become a real saint, I promise you.

BATÍN. A likely story! Do you expect

Me to believe the Duke's so heavenly?

350

RICARDO. There are some men, Batín, who, when
They see that fortune smiles on them,
Grow proud and arrogant, and force
The rest of us to do the things they want.

The Duke, surprisingly, has turned

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Out different. The thing that marks him out's
Humility, and how he now
Despises all the praise that has
Been lavished on him on account

Of all his famous victories.

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BATÍN. Let's hope, then, that he'll always stay
Like that, and not be like the cat
They speak of in the well-known story.
^*
It tells of how a certain Greek

Desired that his cat -- I think

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It was a tabby -- be transformed
Into a rather dishy lady.
And so this lady, now arrayed
With hairdo and expensive finery,

Did see one day a tiny creature pass,

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I mean that paper-eating poet of
The animals -- the friendly mouse --
And straight away she jumped on him,
So proving that we cannot change

A thing as far as our natures are

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Concerned, and pussy will be always pussy,
Doggie, doggie, for eternity, amen.

RICARDO. I don't believe the Duke will be
Again the profligate he was.

Besides, when he has children he

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Will be transformed. You'll see them run
Their fingers through the lion's mane,

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And him lie at their feet, completely tame.

BATíN. I hope that what you say is true.

RICARDO. I'll say goodbye. I have to go.

385

BATíN. Where are you going?
RICARDO. To see a girl.

I can't afford to keep her waiting.

Exit
RICARDO.
Enter the
DUKE
with letters.

DUKE. Is there no servant here?
BATíN. There's me,

My lord, a true example of
Servility.

DUKE. My good Batín.

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BATíN. May God protect you, sir. It's good

To have you home with us again.

DUKE. What are you doing here?

BATíN. I was,
Until you came, most entertained

By young Ricardo, sir. He told

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Me of your recent history,
Of how you are regarded as
The Hector
^*
of all Italy.

DUKE. And would you say, Batín, that while

I've been away, the Count has handled my

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Affairs as properly as I would like?

BATíN. You could say, sir, his triumphs here
Have been in every way as great
As yours in war.

DUKE. And what about

Casandra? Did he treat her kindly?

405

BATíN. I'd put it much more strongly, sir.
I'd say there's never been a stepmother

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That favoured any stepson more
Than she has done. It must have been

Her saintliness and virtue, sir,

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That won him over.

DUKE. Then I am glad If, as you say, they get on well
Together. I love the Count above
All else. I know how sad he was

When I was forced to go away

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To war, and so on that account
Am glad to hear that both of them
Have learned at last to love each other.
How good it is to know that in

This house we celebrate today

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Two famous victories: my own
In Italy, Casandra's triumph here.
I am indebted to her for
Such warm consideration of

My son, and promise that in future I

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Shall spurn all other women. What's past
Is past; the life that I propose
To lead now matters most.

BATíN. It seems
To me a miracle, my lord, that one

Who couldn't get enough of it 430

Should now come back to us and plan To live more like a hermit. You ought
To found, if you are really good,
Some new religious brotherhood.
^*

DUKE. I promise you, Batín, that all

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Of you shall see how I've reformed.

BATíN. Of course we shall, my lord. But I
Don't understand why you aren't yet
In bed when half an hour ago
You said you felt half-dead.

DUKE. And so

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I do, Batín. But on my way
Upstairs they gave me documents
And letters which reminded me
That I should deal with cares of state

As soon as possible. I plan

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To solve them first and then sleep easily.
Why let them cause me pointless worry?
Go now. I must attend to them.
The man who rules should feel that everything

Is worthy of his full attention.

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BATíN. No doubt heaven will reward you for
The care with which you deal with your
Affairs. You shall enjoy eternal fame,
And centuries to come shall celebrate
Your name.

[
Exit
BATíN

DUKE [ reads]. What have we here? 'My lord,

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I am your palace gardener.
I've cultivated seeds, together with
Six sons, and for the eldest of them now
Request . . .' I know the cheeky fellow.

We'll let his soil lie fallow for a while.

460

What's this? A begging-letter from
A widow called Lucinda. May
The Devil take her! Another from
A fellow called Albano, not

To mention Julio Camilo. To hell

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With all of them! This from a woman calls
Herself Paula de San Germán.
Describes herself as chaste young maid.
Why write to me unless she thinks

That I can satisfy her need?

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What's this that comes so tightly sealed?
The fellow gave it to me seemed
So scared, I swear he thought he'd seen
A ghost. So what's it say? [
Reads]
'My lord,

While you have been away, the Count

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And Duchess have . . .' I might have known;
I half suspected this, that they
Did not do things as properly
As I would like! [
Reads]
'. . . offended both

Your honour and your bed by means

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Of their infamy.' How can
I bear such news as this! [
Reads]
'You shall
Have certain proof of it if you
Observe them carefully.' What can

This letter be that so offends

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My eyes and asks them to believe
That this is true? I am convinced
That lies like these do not consider how
A father feels when he is told

His wife and son deprive him of

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His honour! Am I to think Casandra could
Offend me so? Must I believe
Such shameful things of Federico?
And yet, the fact that they are man

And woman leads me to suspect

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It might be true! There is no sin
Of which man is not capable,
And I am tempted to believe
That heaven, to punish me for all

My sins, has made this possible.

500

It was the punishment inflicted on
King David
^*
by the prophet Nathan,
Which means that Federico has
Become another Absalom.

But this is punishment far worse,

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For David's women were but concubines,
While here Casandra is my wife.
It is as if the wickedness
Of my own irresponsible

And sinful life has now been sent

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To punish me, though I have not,
As David did, obtained a wife
By murder and by treachery.
It is my son who is now guilty of

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