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Scenes From The Magico Prodigioso: From The Spanish Of Calderon
by
MOSCON:
Would that my feet were wings, 45
So would I fly to Livia.
[EXIT.]
CLARIN:
To speak truth,
Livia is she who has surprised my heart;
But he is more than half-way there.–Soho!
Livia, I come; good sport, Livia, soho!
[EXIT.]
CYPRIAN:
Now, since I am alone, let me examine 50
The question which has long disturbed my mind
With doubt, since first I read in Plinius
The words of mystic import and deep sense
In which he defines God. My intellect
Can find no God with whom these marks and signs 55
Fitly agree. It is a hidden truth
Which I must fathom.
[CYPRIAN READS;
THE DAEMON, DRESSED IN A COURT DRESS, ENTERS.]
NOTE:
57 Stage Direction: So transcr. Reads. Enter the Devil as a fine
gentleman 1824.
DAEMON:
Search even as thou wilt,
But thou shalt never find what I can hide.
CYPRIAN:
What noise is that among the boughs? Who moves?
What art thou?–
DAEMON:
‘Tis a foreign gentleman. 60
Even from this morning I have lost my way
In this wild place; and my poor horse at last,
Quite overcome, has stretched himself upon
The enamelled tapestry of this mossy mountain,
And feeds and rests at the same time. I was 65
Upon my way to Antioch upon business
Of some importance, but wrapped up in cares
(Who is exempt from this inheritance?)
I parted from my company, and lost
My way, and lost my servants and my comrades. 70
CYPRIAN:
‘Tis singular that even within the sight
Of the high towers of Antioch you could lose
Your way. Of all the avenues and green paths
Of this wild wood there is not one but leads,
As to its centre, to the walls of Antioch; 75
Take which you will, you cannot miss your road.
DAEMON:
And such is ignorance! Even in the sight
Of knowledge, it can draw no profit from it.
But as it still is early, and as I
Have no acquaintances in Antioch, 80
Being a stranger there, I will even wait
The few surviving hours of the day,
Until the night shall conquer it. I see
Both by your dress and by the books in which
You find delight and company, that you 85
Are a great student;–for my part, I feel
Much sympathy in such pursuits.
NOTE:
87 in transcr.; with 1824.
CYPRIAN:
Have you
Studied much?
DAEMON:
No,–and yet I know enough
Not to be wholly ignorant.
CYPRIAN:
Pray, Sir,
What science may you know?–
DAEMON:
Many.
CYPRIAN:
Alas! 90
Much pains must we expend on one alone,
And even then attain it not;–but you
Have the presumption to assert that you
Know many without study.