The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03

SCENE VIII

WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY, ILLO

ILLO (who enters agitated with rage).

Treason and mutiny!

TERZKY.

And what further now?

ILLO.

Tiefenbach's soldiers, when I gave the orders,

To go off guard—Mutinous villains!

TERZKY.

Well!

WALLENST.

What followed?

ILLO.

They refused obedience to them.

TERZKY.

Fire on them instantly! Give out the order.

WALLENST.

Gently! what cause did they assign?

ILLO.

 
                        No other,
 

They said, had right to issue orders but

Lieutenant-General Piccolomini.

WALLENSTEIN (in a convulsion of agony).

What? How is that?

ILLO.

He takes that office on him by commission,

Under sign-manual of the Emperor.

TERZKY.

From the Emperor—hear'st thou, Duke?

ILLO.

 
                       At his incitement
 

The Generals made that stealthy flight—

TERZKY.

Duke! hear'st thou?

ILLO.

Caraffa too, and Montecuculi,

Are missing, with six other generals,

All whom he had induced to follow him.

This plot he has long had in writing by him

From the Emperor; but 'twas finally concluded,

With all the detail of the operation,

Some days ago with the Envoy Questenberg.

[WALLENSTEIN sinks down into a chair and covers his face.]

TERZKY.

O hadst thou but believed me!

SCENE IX

To them enter the COUNTESS

COUNTESS

 
                            This suspense,
 

This horrid fear—I can no longer bear it.

For heaven's sake tell me what has taken place?

ILLO.

The regiments are all falling off from us.

TERZKY.

Octavio Piccolomini is a traitor.

COUNTESS.

O my foreboding! [Rushes out of the room.]

TERZKY.

 
                        Hadst thou but believed me!
 

Now seest thou how the stars have lied to thee.

WALLENST.

The stars lie not; but we have here a work

Wrought counter to the stars and destiny.

The science is still honest: this false heart

Forces a lie on the truth-telling heaven.

On a divine law divination rests;

Where nature deviates from that law, and stumbles

Out of her limits, there all science errs.

True I did not suspect! Were it superstition

Never by such suspicion t' have affronted

The human form, O may that time ne'er come

In which I shame me of the infirmity.

The wildest savage drinks not with the victim,

Into whose breast he means to plunge the sword.

This, this, Octavio, was no hero's deed:

'Twas not thy prudence that did conquer mine;

A bad heart triumph'd o'er an honest one.

No shield received the assassin stroke; thou plungest

Thy weapon on an unprotected breast—

Against such weapons I am but a child.

SCENE X

To these enter BUTLER

TERZKY (meeting him).

O look there! Butler! Here we've still a friend!

WALLENSTEIN (meets him with outspread arms, and embraces him with warmth).

Come to my heart, old comrade! Not the sun

Looks out upon us more revivingly

In the earliest month of spring,

Than a friend's countenance in such an hour.

BUTLER.

My General: I come—

WALLENSTEIN (leaning on BUTLER's shoulder).

 
                            Know'st thou already?
 

That old man has betray'd me to the Emperor.

What say'st thou? Thirty years have we together

Lived out, and held out, sharing joy and hardship.

We have slept in one camp-bed, drunk from one glass,

One morsel shared! I lean'd myself on him,

As now I lean me on thy faithful shoulder.

And now in the very moment, when, all love,

All confidence, my bosom beat to his,

He sees and takes the advantage, stabs the knife

Slowly into my heart.

[He hides his face on BUTLER'S breast.]

BUTLER.

 
                 Forget the false one.
 

What is your present purpose?

WALLENSTEIN.

 
                         Well remember'd!
 

Courage, my soul! I am still rich in friends,

Still loved by Destiny; for in the moment

That it unmasks the plotting hypocrite,

It sends and proves to me one faithful heart.

Of the hypocrite no more! Think not his loss

Was that which struck the pang: O no! his treason

Is that which strikes this pang! No more of him!

Dear to my heart and honor'd were they both,

And the young man—yes—he did truly love me,

He—he—has not deceived me. But enough,

Enough of this—swift counsel now beseems us.

The Courier, whom Count Kinsky sent from Prague,

I expect him every moment: and whatever

He may bring with him, we must take good care

To keep it from the mutineers. Quick then!

Dispatch some messenger you can rely on

To meet him and conduct him to me.

[ILLO is going.]

BUTLER (detaining him).

My General, whom expect you then?

WALLENSTEIN.

 
                           The Courier
 

Who brings me word of the event at Prague.

BUTLER (hesitating).

Hem!

WALLENST.

And what now?

BUTLER.

You do not know it?

WALLENSTEIN.

Well?

BUTLER.

From what that larum in the camp arose?

WALLENST.

From what?

BUTLER.

That Courier—

WALLENSTEIN (with eager expectation).

Well?

BUTLER.

Is already here.

TERZKY and ILLO (at the same time).

Already here?

WALLENSTEIN.

My Courier?

BUTLER.

For some hours.

WALLENST.

And I not know it?

BUTLER.

 
                  The sentinels detained him
 

In custody.

ILLO (stamping with his foot).

 
            Damnation!
 

BUTLER.

 
                     And his letter
 

Was broken open, and is circulated

Through the whole camp.

WALLENSTEIN.

You know what it contains?

BUTLER.

Question me not!

TERZKY.

Illo, alas for us!

WALLENST.

Hide nothing from me—I can hear the worst.

Prague then is lost? It is! Confess it freely.

BUTLER.

Yes! Prague is lost. And all the several regiments

At Budweiss, Tabor, Braunau, Königingratz,

At Brunn and Zanaym, have forsaken you,

And ta'en oaths of fealty anew

To the Emperor. Yourself, with Kinsky, Terzky,

And Illo have been sentenced.

[TERZKY and ILLO express alarm and fury. WALLENSTEIN remains firm and collected.]

WALLENSTEIN.

 
              'Tis decided!
 

'Tis well! I have received a sudden cure

From all the pangs of doubt: with steady stream

Once more my life-blood flows! My soul's secure!

In the night only Friedland's stars can beam.

Lingering irresolute, with fitful fears

I drew the sword—'twas with an inward strife,

While yet the choice was mine. The murderous knife

Is lifted for my heart! Doubt disappears!

I fight now for my head and for my life.

[Exit WALLENSTEIN; the others follow him.]

SCENE XI

COUNTESS TERZKY (enters from a side room).

I can endure no longer. No!

[Looks around her.]

 
                            Where are they!
 

No one is here. They leave me all alone,

Alone in this sore anguish of suspense.

And I must wear the outward show of calmness

Before my sister, and shut in within me

The pangs and agonies of my crowded bosom.

It is not to be borne. If all should fail;

If—if he must go over to the Swedes,

An empty-handed fugitive, and not

As an ally, a covenanted equal,

A proud commander with his army following,

If we must wander on from land to land,

Like the Count Palatine, of fallen greatness

An ignominious monument! But no!

That day I will not see! And could himself

Endure to sink so low, I would not bear

To see him so low sunken.

SCENE XII

COUNTESS, DUCHESS, THEKLA

THEKLA (endeavoring to hold back the DUCHESS).

Dear mother, do stay here!

DUCHESS.

 
                    No! Here is yet
 

Some frightful mystery that is hidden from me.

Why does my sister shun me? Don't I see her

Full of suspense and anguish roam about

From room to room? Art thou not full of terror?

And what import these silent nods and gestures

Which stealthwise thou exchangest with her?

THEKLA.

 
                                    Nothing:
 

Nothing, dear mother!

DUCHESS (to the COUNTESS).

Sister, I will know.

COUNTESS.

What boots it now to hide it from her? Sooner

Or later she must learn to hear and bear it.

'Tis not the time now to indulge infirmity;

Courage beseems us now, a heart collect,

And exercise and previous discipline

Of fortitude. One word, and over with it!

Sister, you are deluded. You believe

The Duke has been deposed—the Duke is not

Deposed—he is—

THEKLA (going to the COUNTESS).

What? do you wish to kill her?

COUNTESS.

The Duke is—

THEKLA (throwing her arms round her mother).

O stand firm; stand firm, my mother!

COUNTESS.

Revolted is the Duke; he is preparing

To join the enemy; the army leave him,

And all has fail'd.

SCENE XIII

A spacious Room in the Duke of Friedland's Palace.

WALLENSTEIN (in armor).

Thou hast gain'd thy point, Octavio! Once more am I

Almost as friendless as at Regensburg.

There I had nothing left me, but myself;

But what one man can do, you have now experience.

The twigs have you hew'd off, and here I stand

A leafless trunk. But in the sap within

Lives the creating power, and a new world

May sprout forth from it. Once already have I

Proved myself worth an army to you—I alone!

Before the Swedish strength your troops had melted;

Beside the Lech sank Tilly your last hope;

Into Bavaria like a winter torrent,

Did that Gustavus pour, and at Vienna

In his own palace did the Emperor tremble.

Soldiers were scarce, for still the multitude

Follow the luck: all eyes were turn'd on me,

Their helper in distress: the Emperor's pride

Bow'd itself down before the man he had injured.

'Twas I must rise, and with creative word

Assemble forces in the desolate camps.

I did it. Like a god of war, my name

Went through the world. The drum was beat; and, lo,

The plough, the workshop is forsaken, all

Swarm to the old familiar long-loved banners;

And as the wood-choir rich in melody

Assemble quick around the bird of wonder,

When first his throat swells with his magic song,

So did the warlike youth of Germany

Crowd in around the image of my eagle.

I feel myself the being that I was.

It is the soul that builds itself a body,

And Friedland's camp will not remain unfill'd.

Lead then your thousands out to meet me—true!

They are accustom'd under me to conquer,

But not against me. If the head and limbs

Separate from each other, 'twill be soon

Made manifest in which the soul abode.

(ILLO and TERZKY enter)

Courage, friends! courage! we are still unvanquish'd!

I feel my footing firm; five regiments, Terzky,

Are still our own, and Butler's gallant troops;

And an host of sixteen thousand Swedes to-morrow.

I was not stronger when, nine years ago,

I marched forth, with glad heart and high of hope,

To conquer Germany for the Emperor.

SCENE XIV

WALLENSTEIN, ILLO, TERZKY

(To them enter NEUMANN, who leads TERZKY aside and talks with him.)

TERZKY.

What do they want?

WALLENSTEIN.

What now!

TERZKY.

 
                        Ten Cuirassiers
 

From Pappenheim request leave to address you

In the name of the regiment.

WALLENSTEIN (hastily to NEUMANN).

Let them enter.

[Exit NEUMANN.]

 
                                          This
 

May end in something. Mark you. They are still

Doubtful, and may be won.

SCENE XV

WALLENSTEIN, TERZBY, ILLO, ten Cuirassiers (led by an ANSPESSADE,[27] march up and arrange themselves, after the word of command, in one front before the Duke, and make their obeisance. He takes his hat off and immediately covers himself again).

ANSPESS.

Halt! Front! Present!

WALLENSTEIN (after he has run through them with his eye, to the ANSPESSADE).

I know thee well. Thou art out of Brüggen in Flanders.

Thy name is Mercy.

ANSPESS.

Henry Mercy.

WALLENST.

Thou wert cut off on the march, surrounded by the Hessians, and didst fight thy way with an hundred and eighty men through their thousand.

ANSPESS.

'Twas even so, General!

WALLENST.

What reward hadst thou for this gallant exploit?

ANSPESS.

That which I asked for: the honor to serve in this corps.

WALLENSTEIN (turning to a second).

Thou wert among the volunteers that seized and made booty of the Swedish battery at Altenburg.

2D CUIRAS.

Yes, General.

WALLENST.

I forget no one with whom I have exchanged words.

(A pause.)

Who sends you?

ANSPESS.

Your noble regiment, the Cuirassiers of Piccolomini.

WALLENST.

Why does not your colonel deliver in your request, according to the custom of service?

ANSPESS.

Because we would first know whom we serve.

WALLENST.

Begin your address.

ANSPESSADE (giving the word of command).

Shoulder your arms!

WALLENSTEIN (turning to a third).

Thy name is Risbeck; Cologne is thy birth-place.

3D CUIRAS.

Risbeck of Cologne.

WALLENST.

It was thou that broughtest in the Swedish colonel,

Dübald, prisoner, in the camp at Nuremberg.

3D CUIRAS.

It was not I, General.

WALLENST.

Perfectly right! It was thy elder brother: thou hadst a younger brother too: Where did he stay?

3D CUIRAS.

He is stationed at Olmütz, with the Imperial army.

WALLENSTEIN (to the ANSPESSADE).

Now then—begin.

ANSPESS.

There came to hand a letter from the Emperor

Commanding us—

WALLENSTEIN (interrupting him).

Who chose you?

ANSPESSADE.

 
                              Every company
 

Drew its own man by lot.

WALLENSTEIN.

Now to the business.

ANSPESS.

There came to hand a letter from the Emperor

Commanding us collectively, from thee

All duties of obedience to withdraw,

Because thou wert an enemy and traitor.

WALLENST.

And what did you determine?

ANSPESSADE.

 
                       All our comrades
 

At Braunau, Budweiss, Prague and Olmütz, have

Obey'd already; and the regiments here,

Tiefenbach and Toscano, instantly

Did follow their example. But—but we

Do not believe that thou art an enemy

And traitor to thy country, hold it merely

For lie and trick and a trumped-up Spanish story!

[With warmth.]

Thyself shalt tell us what thy purpose is,

For we have found thee still sincere and true:

No mouth shall interpose itself betwixt

The gallant General and the gallant troops.

WALLENST.

Therein I recognize my Pappenheimers.

ANSPESS.

And this proposal makes thy regiment to thee.

Is it thy purpose merely to preserve

In thine own hands this military sceptre,

Which so becomes thee, which the Emperor

Made over to thee by a covenant?

Is it thy purpose merely to remain

Supreme commander of the Austrian armies?—

We will stand by thee, General! and guarantee

Thy honest rights against all opposition.

And should it chance that all the other regiments

Turn from thee, by ourselves will we stand forth

Thy faithful soldiers, and, as is our duty,

Far rather let ourselves be cut to pieces

Than suffer thee to fall. But if it be

As the Emperor's letter says, if it be true,

That thou in traitorous wise wilt lead us over

To the enemy, which God in heaven forbid!

Then we too will forsake thee, and obey

That letter—

WALLENSTEIN.

Hear me, children!

ANSPESSADE.

 
                          Yes, or no!
 

There needs no other answer.

WALLENSTEIN.

 
                      Yield attention.
 

You're men of sense, examine for yourselves;

Ye think, and do not follow with the herd

And therefore have I always shown you honor

Above all others, suffer'd you to reason;

Have treated you as free men, and my orders

Were but the echoes of your prior suffrage.—

ANSPESS.

Most fair and noble has thy conduct been

To us, my General! With thy confidence

Thou hast honor'd us, and shown us grace and favor

Beyond all other regiments; and thou seest

We follow not the common herd. We will

Standby thee faithfully. Speak but one word—

Thy word shall satisfy us, that it is not

A treason which thou meditatest—that

Thou meanest not to lead the army over

To the enemy, nor e'er betray the country.

WALLENST.

Me, me are they betraying. The Emperor

Hath sacrificed me to my enemies,

And I must fall, unless my gallant troops

Will rescue me. See! I confide in you.

And be your hearts my stronghold! At this breast

The aim is taken, at this hoary head.

This is your Spanish gratitude, this is our

Requital for that murderous fight at Lützen!

For this we threw the naked breast against

The halbert, made for this the frozen earth

Our bed, and the hard stone our pillow! never stream

Too rapid for us, nor wood too impervious;

With cheerful spirit we pursued that Mansfeldt

Through all the turns and windings of his flight:

Yea, our whole life was but one restless march:

And homeless, as the stirring wind, we travel'd

O'er the war-wasted earth. And now, even now,

That we have well-nigh finish'd the hard toil,

The unthankful, the curse-laden toil of weapons,

With faithful indefatigable arm

Have roll'd the heavy war-load up the hill,

Behold! this boy of the Emperor's bears away

The honors of the peace, an easy prize!

He'll weave, forsooth, into his flaxen locks

The olive branch, the hard-earn'd ornament

Of this gray head, grown gray beneath the helmet.

ANSPESS.

That shall he not, while we can hinder it!

No one, but thou, who hast conducted it

With fame, shall end this war, this frightful war.

Thou leddest us out to the bloody field

Of death; thou and no other shalt conduct us home,

Rejoicing, to the lovely plains of peace—

Shalt share with us the fruits of the long toil—

WALLENST.

What! Think you then at length in late old age

To enjoy the fruits of toil? Believe it not.

Never, no never, will you see the end

Of the contest! you and me, and all of us,

This war will swallow up! War, war, not peace,

Is Austria's wish; and therefore, because I

Endeavor'd after peace, therefore I fall,

For what cares Austria how long the war

Wears out the armies and lays waste the world!

She will but wax and grow amid the ruin

And still win new domains.

[The Cuirassiers express agitation by their gestures.]

 
                           Ye're moved—I see
 

A noble rage flash from your eyes, ye warriors!

Oh that my spirit might possess you now

Daring as once it led you to the battle!

Ye would stand by me with your veteran arms,

Protect me in my rights; and this is noble!

But think not that you can accomplish it,

Your scanty number! to no purpose will you

Have sacrificed you for your General.

[Confidentially.]

No! let us tread securely, seek for friends;

The Swedes have proffer'd us assistance, let us

Wear for a while the appearance of good will,

And use them for your profit, till we both

Carry the fate of Europe in our hands,

And from our camp to the glad jubilant world

Lead Peace forth with the garland on her head!

ANSPESS.

'Tis then but mere appearances which thou

Dost put on with the Swede! Thou'lt not betray

The Emperor? Wilt not turn us into Swedes?

This is the only thing which we desire

To learn from thee.

WALLENSTEIN.

 
             What care I for the Swedes?
 

I hate them as I hate the pit of hell,

And under Providence I trust right soon

To chase them to their homes across their Baltic.

My cares are only for the whole: I have

A heart—it bleeds within me for the miseries

And piteous groaning of my fellow Germans.

Ye are but common men, but yet ye think

With minds not common; ye appear to me

Worthy before all others that I whisper ye

A little word or two in confidence!

See now! already for full fifteen years,

The war-torch has continued burning, yet

No rest, no pause of conflict. Swede and German,

Papist and Lutheran! neither will give way

To the other, every hand's against the other.

Each one is party and no one a judge.

Where shall this end? Where's he that will unravel

This tangle, ever tangling more and more;

It must be cut asunder;

I feel that I am the man of destiny,

And trust, with your assistance, to accomplish it.

SCENE XVI

To these enter BUTLER

BUTLER (passionately).

General! This is not right!

WALLENSTEIN.

What is not right?

BUTLER.

It must needs injure us with all honest men.

WALLENST.

But What?

BUTLER.

 
                 It is an open proclamation
 

Of insurrection.

WALLENSTEIN.

Well, well—but what is it?

BUTLER.

Count Terzky's regiments tear the Imperial Eagle

From off the banners, and instead of it

Have rear'd aloft their arms.

ANSPESSADE (abruptly to the Cuirassiers).

Right about! March!

WALLENST.

Cursed be this counsel, and accursed who gave it!

[To the Cuirassiers, who are retiring.]

Halt, children, halt! There's some mistake in this;

Hark!—I will punish it severely. Stop!

They do not hear. (To ILLO.) Go after them, assure them,

And bring them back to me, cost what it may.

[ILLO hurries out.]

This hurls us headlong. Butler! Butler!

You are my evil genius! Wherefore must you

Announce it in their presence? It was all

In a fair way. They were half won! those madmen

With their improvident over-readiness—

cruel game is Fortune playing with me.

The zeal of friends it is that razes me,

And not the hate of enemies.

SCENE XVII

To these enter the DUCHESS, who rushes into the Chamber THEKLA and the COUNTESS follow her.

DUCHESS.

 
            O Albrecht!
 

What hast thou done?

WALLENSTEIN.

And now comes this beside.

COUNTESS.

Forgive me, brother! It was not in my power—

They know all.

DUCHESS.

What hast thou done?

COUNTESS (to TERZKY).

Is there no hope? Is all lost utterly?

TERZKY.

All lost. No hope. Prague in the Emperor's hands,

The soldiery have ta'en their oaths anew.

COUNTESS.

That lurking hypocrite, Octavio!

Count Max is off too.

TERZKY.

 
                   Where can he be? He's
 

Gone over to the Emperor with his father.

[THEKLA rushes out into the arms of her mother, hiding her face in her bosom.]

DUCHESS (enfolding her in her arms).

Unhappy child! and more unhappy mother!

WALLENSTEIN (aside to TERZKY).

Quick! Let a carriage stand in readiness

In the court behind the palace. Scherfenberg

Be their attendant; he is faithful to us;

To Egra he'll conduct them, and we follow.

[To ILLO, who returns.]

Thou hast not brought them back?

ILLO.

 
             Hear'st thou the uproar?
 

The whole corps of the Pappenheimers is

Drawn out: the younger Piccolomini,

Their colonel, they require: for they affirm

That he is in the palace here, a prisoner;

And if thou dost not instantly deliver him,

They will find means to free him with the sword.

[All stand amazed.]

TERZKY.

What shall we make of this?

WALLENSTEIN.

 
                       Said I not so?
 

O my prophetic heart! he is still here.

He has not betray'd me—he could not betray me.

I never doubted of it.

COUNTESS.

 
                         If he be
 

Still here, then all goes well; for I know what

[Embracing THEKLA]

Will keep him here forever.

TERZKY.

 
                             It can't be.
 

His father has betray'd us, is gone over

To the Emperor—the son could not have ventured

To stay behind.

THEKLA (her eyes fixed on the door).

There he is!