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Read Ebook: The Wonder-Working Magician by Calder N De La Barca Pedro MacCarthy Denis Florence Translator
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Ebook has 372 lines and 25812 words, and 8 pages
DEMON. 'Tis that passage which declares this dictum: "God is one supremest good, One pure essence, one existence, Self-sustained, all sight, all hands."
CYPRIAN. Yes, 'tis true.
DEMON. And what is in it So abstruse?
CYPRIAN. I cannot find Such a god as Plinius figures. If he be the highest good, Then is Jupiter deficient In that attribute; we see him Acting like a mortal sinner Many a time,--this, Danae, This, Europa, too, doth witness. Can then, by the Highest Good, All whose actions, all whose instincts, Should be sacred and divine, Human frailty be committed?
DEMON. These are fables which the learned First made use of, to exhibit Underneath the names of gods What in truth was but a hidden System of philosophy.
CYPRIAN. Granted; but that god ought not, For the gods are not malicious, To have promised victory;-- It would have been quite sufficient, Without this most false assurance, The defeat to have permitted. Then if God must be all sight, Every god should see distinctly With clear vision to the end; Seeing THAT, he erred in fixing On a false conclusion; then Though the deity may with fitness Be divided into persons, Yet His essence must be single In the smallest circumstance.
DEMON. It was needful for this business, That the oracle should rouse The two hosts alike.
CYPRIAN. If fitting, There were genii that could rouse them , who are, in fact, Spirits who among us mingle, And who good and evil acts, Evil thoughts, suggest and whisper, A convincing argument For the immortal soul's existence: Of these ministers could God Have made use, nor thus exhibit He was capable of a lie To effect his ends?
DEMON. Consider, That these seeming contradictions Cannot our firm faith diminish In the oneness of the gods, If in things of higher import They know naught of dissonance. Take man's wondrous frame, for instance, Surely that majestic structure Once conception doth exhibit.
DEMON. On impossible and false issues There can be no argument;-- But your premises admitting, Say what then?
CYPRIAN. That there must be One sole God, all hands, all vision, Good Supreme, supreme in grace, One who cannot err, omniscient, One the highest, none can equal, Not beginning, yet the Beginner, One pure essence, one sole substance, One wise worker, ozone sole willer;-- And though He in one or two Or more persons be distinguished, Yet the sovereign Deity Must be one, sublime and single, The first cause of every cause, The first germ of all existence.
A HALL IN THE HOUSE OF LYSANDER.
Enter JUSTINA and LYSANDER.
JUSTINA. Consolation, sir, is vain, After what I've seen to-day: The whole city, madly gay, Error-blinded and insane, Consecrating shrine and fane To an image, which I know, Cannot be a god, although Some demoniac power may pass, Making breathe the silent brass As a proof that it is so.
LYSANDER. Fair Justina, thou indeed, Wert not who thou art, if thou Didst not weep as thou dost now, Didst not in thy pure heart bleed For what Christ's divinest creed Suffers on this sinful day.
JUSTINA. Thus my lineage I display:-- For thy child I could not be, Could I without weeping see This idolatrous display.
LYSANDER. Ah, my good, my gentle maid! Thou art not my daughter, no, 'Twere too happy, if 'twere so. But, O God! what's this I've said?-- My life's secret is betrayed! 'Twas my soul that spoke aloud.
JUSTINA. What do you say, sir?
LYSANDER. Oh! a crowd Of old thoughts my heart hath stirred.
JUSTINA. Many times methought I heard What but now you have avowed, And yet never wished to hear, At the risk perchance of paining, A more accurate explaining Of your sorrow and my fear; But since now it doth appear Right that I should be possess'd Of the whole truth half confess'd, Let me say, though bold appearing,-- Trust your secret to my hearing, Since it hath escaped your breast.
LYSANDER. Ah! Justina, I have long Kept this secret from your ears, Fearing from your tender years That the telling might be wrong; But now seeing you are strong, Firm in thought, in action brave, Seeing too, that with this stave, I go creeping o'er the ground, Rapping with a hollow sound At the portals of the grave, Knowing that my time is brief, I would not here leave you, no, In your ignorance; I owe My own peace, too, this relief: Then attentive to my grief Let your pleasure list.
JUSTINA. A fear Struggles in my breast.
LYSANDER. Severe Is the test my duty pays.
JUSTINA. From this most perplexing maze Oh, sir, rescue me.
LIVIA, JUSTINA, and LYSANDER.
Enter LIVIA.
JUSTINA. Half in wonder and dismay At the vile address you make me, Reason, speech, alike forsake me, And I know not what to say. Never in the slightest way Have your clients had from me Encouragement for this embassy-- Florus never--Lelius no:-- Of the scorn that I can show Let then this a warning be.
CYPRIAN. If I, knowing that you loved Some one else, would dare to seek Your regard, my love were weak, And could justly be reproved. But here seeing you stand unmoved, Like a rock mid raging seas, No extraneous miseries Make me say I love you now. 'Tis not for my friends I bow, So your warning hear with ease.-- To Lelius what shall I say?
JUSTINA. That he Well may trust the boding fears Of his love of many years.
CYPRIAN. To Florus?
JUSTINA. Not my face to see.
CYPRIAN. And to myself?
JUSTINA. Your love should be Not so bold.
CYPRIAN. Though a god should woo?
JUSTINA. Will a god do more for you Than for those I have denied?
CYPRIAN. Yes.
FLORUS . Here the dawn will find me waiting:-- Here, because 'tis force compels me To go hence, for I, elsewhere, Am away from my true centre. Would to love the day had come, And with it the dear, expected Answer Cyprian may bring me, Risking all upon that venture.
LELIUS . I have surely in that window Heard a noise.
FLORUS . Some sound descends here From that balcony.
The Demon appears at a window in the house of LYSANDER.
LELIUS . A figure Issues from it, whose dim presence I distinguish.
FLORUS . Through the darkness I can there perceive some person.
DEMON . For the many persecutions O'er Justina's head impending, Her pure honour to defame Thus I make a bold commencement. . But, O woe! what's this I witness!--
FLORUS . What do I see! Oh, wretched! wretched!--
LELIUS . From the balcony to the ground The dark figure has descended.
FLORUS . From her house a man comes forth!-- Jealousy kill me not, preserve me, 'Till I discover who he is.
LELIUS . I will try to intercept him And find out at once who thus Tastes the bliss I've lost for ever.
. Not alone Justina's fame Do I by this act discredit, But dissensions, perhaps murders, Thus provoke. Ope, earth's dark centre, And receive me, leaving here This confusion . What is this, O heavens! I hear? Can it be the two are jealous Of each other at one time? And I too of both together?-- Doubtless from some strange delusion The two suffer, which I welcome With a sort of satisfaction, For to it I am indebted For the fact of their desisting From their suit and their pretension.-- Moscon, have for me by morning A rich court-suit; sword and feathers, Clarin, be thy care; for love In a certain airy splendour Takes delight; for now no longer Books or studies give me pleasure;-- Love they say doth murder mind, Learning dies when he is present. . Where, presumptuous thoughts, ah! where, Would you lead me, whither go? If for certain now you know That the high attempts you dare Are delusive dreams of bliss, Since you strive to scale heaven's wall, But from that proud height to fall Headlong down a dark abyss? I Justina saw..... So near Would to God I had not seen her, Nor in her divine demeanour All the light of heaven's fourth sphere. Lovers twain for her contend, Both being jealous each should woo, And I, jealous of the two, Know not which doth most offend. All I know is, that suspicion, Her disdain, my own desires, Fill my heart with furious fires-- Drive me, ah! to my perdition. This I know, and know no more, This I feel in all my strait; Heavens! Justina is my fate! Heavens! Justina I adore!-- Moscon.
MOSCON. Sir.
CYPRIAN. Inquire, I pray, If Lysander's in.
MOSCON. I fly.
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