PERSONAS QUE HABLAN EN ELLA
ROSAURA, dama SEGISMUNDO, príncipe CLOTALDO, viejo ESTRELLA, infanta SOLDADOS CLARIN, gracioso BASILIO, rey ASTOLFO, príncipe GUARDAS MUSICOS Jornada primera |
Sale en lo alto de un monte ROSAURA en hábito de hombre, de camino, y en | |||
ROSAURA. |
Hipogrifo violento, |
Ros. Wild hippogriff swift speeding, | |
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que corriste parejas con el viento, |
Thou that dost run, the wingéd winds exceeding, | |
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¿dónde rayo sin llama, |
Bolt which no flash illumes, | |
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pájaro sin matiz, pez sin escama |
Fish without scales, bird without shifting plumes, | |
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y bruto sin instinto |
And brute awhile bereft | |
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natural, al confuso laberinto |
Of natural instinct, why to this wild cleft, | |
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de esas desnudas peñas te desbocas, |
This labyrinth of naked rocks, dost sweep | |
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te arrastras y despeñas? |
Unreined, uncurbed, to plunge thee down the steep? | |
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Quédate en este monte, |
Stay in this mountain wold, | |
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donde tengan los brutos su Faetonte |
And let the beasts their Phaëton behold. | |
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que yo, sin más camino |
For I, without a guide, | |
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que el que me dan las leyes del destino, |
Save what the laws of destiny decide, | |
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ciega y desesperada, |
Benighted, desperate, blind, | |
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bajaré la cabeza enmarañada |
Take any path whatever that doth wind | |
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deste monte eminente |
Down this rough mountain to its base, | |
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que arruga el sol el ceño de la frente. |
Whose wrinkled brow in heaven frowns in the sun′s bright face. | |
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Mal, Polonia, recibes |
Ah, Poland! in ill mood | |
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a un extranjero, pues con sangre escribes |
Hast thou received a stranger, since in blood | |
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su entrada en tus arenas; |
The name thou writest on thy sands | |
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y apenas llega, cuando llega a penas. |
Of her who hardly here fares hardly at thy hands. | |
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Bien mi suerte lo dice; |
My fate may well say so:--- | |
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mas ¿dónde halló piedad un infelice? |
But where shall one poor wretch find pity in her woe? | |
Sale CLARIN, gracioso. | |||
CLARIN. |
Di dos, y no me dejes |
Cla. Say two, if you please; | |
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en la posada a mí cuando te quejes; |
Don′t leave me out when making plaints like these. | |
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que si dos hemos sido |
For if we are the two | |
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los que de nuestra patria hemos salido |
Who left our native country with the view | |
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a probar aventuras, |
Of seeking strange adventures, if we be | |
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dos los que entre desdichas y locuras |
The two who, madly and in misery, | |
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aquí habemos llegado, |
Have got so far as this, and if we still | |
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y dos los que del monte hemos rodado, |
Are the same two who tumbled down this hill, | |
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¿no es razón que yo sienta |
Does it not plainly to a wrong amount, | |
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meterme en el pesar y no en la cuenta? |
To put me in the pain and not in the account? | |
ROSAURA. |
No quise darte parte |
Ros. I do not wish to impart, | |
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en mis quejas, Clarín, por no quitarte, |
Clarin, to thee, the sorrows of my heart; | |
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llorando tu desvelo, |
Mourning for thee would spoil the consolation | |
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el derecho que tienes al consuelo; |
Of making for thyself thy lamentation; | |
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que tanto gusto había |
For there is such a pleasure in complaining, | |
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en quejarse, un filósofo decía, |
That a philosopher I′ve heard maintaining | |
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que, a trueco de quejarse, |
One ought to seek a sorrow and be vain of it, | |
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habían las desdichas de buscarse. |
In order to be privileged to complain of it. | |
CLARIN. |
El filósofo era un borracho barbón. |
Cla. That same philosopher | |
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¡Oh, quién le diera |
Was an old drunken fool, unless I err: | |
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más de mil bofetadas! |
Oh, that I could a thousand thumps present him, | |
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Quejárase después de muy bien dadas. |
In order for complaining to content him! | |
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Mas ¿qué haremos, señora, |
But what, my lady, say, | |
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a pie, solos, perdidos y a esta hora |
Are we to do, on foot, alone, our way | |
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en un desierto monte, |
Lost in the shades of night? | |
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cuando se parte el sol a otro horizonte? |
For see, the sun descends another sphere to light. | |
ROSAURA. |
¡Quién ha visto sucesos tan extraños! |
Ros. So strange a misadventure who has seen? | |
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Mas si la vista no padece engaños |
But if my sight deceives me not, between | |
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que hace la fantasía, |
These rugged rocks, half-lit by the moon′s ray | |
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a la medrosa luz que aún tiene el día |
And the declining day, | |
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me parece que veo |
It seems, or is it fancy? that I see | |
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un edificio. |
A human dwelling? | |
CLARIN. |
O miente mi deseo, |
Cla. So it seems to me, | |
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o termino las señas. |
Unless my wish the longed-for lodging mocks. | |
ROSAURA. |
Rústico nace entre desnudas peñas |
A rustic little palace ′mid the rocks | |
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un palacio tan breve |
Uplifts its lowly roof, | |
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que el sol apenas a mirar se atreve; |
Scarce seen by the far sun that shines aloof. | |
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con tan rudo artificio |
Of such a rude device | |
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la arquitectura está de su edificio |
Is the whole structure of this edifice, | |
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que parece, a las plantas |
That lying at the feet | |
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de tantas rocas y de peñas tantas |
Of these gigantic crags that rise to greet | |
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que al sol tocan la lumbre, |
The sun′s first beams of gold, | |
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peñasco que ha rodado de la cumbre. |
It seems a rock that down the mountain rolled. | |
CLARIN. |
Vámonos acercando; |
Cla. Let us approach more near, | |
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que éste es mucho mirar, señora, cuando |
For long enough we′ve looked at it from here; | |
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es mejor que la gente |
Then better we shall see | |
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que habita en ella generosamente |
If those who dwell therein will generously | |
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nos admita. |
A welcome give us. | |
ROSAURA. |
La puerta |
Ros. See an open door | |
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(mejor diré funesta boca) abierta |
(Funereal mouth ′twere best the name it bore), | |
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está, y desde su centro |
From which as from a womb | |
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nace la noche, pues la engendra dentro. |
The night is born, engendered in its gloom. | |
(Suena ruido de cadenas.) | |||
CLARIN. |
¡Qué es lo que escucho, cielo! |
Cla. Heavens! what is this I hear? | |
ROSAURA. |
Inmóvil bulto soy de fuego y yelo. |
Ros. Half ice, half fire, I stand transfixed with fear. | |
CLARIN. |
Cadenita hay que suena. |
Cla. A sound of chains, is it not? | |
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Mátenme, si no es galeote en pena; |
Some galley-slave his sentence here hath got; | |
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bien mi temor lo dice. |
My fear may well suggest it so may be. | |
Dentro SEGISMUNDO. | |||
SEGISMUNDO. |
¡Ay mísero de mí! ¡Y ay infelice! |
Seg. Alas! ah, wretched me! Ah, wretched me! | |
ROSAURA. |
¡Qué triste voz escucho! |
Ros. Oh what a mournful wail! | |
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Con nuevas penas y tormentos lucho. |
Again my pains, again my fears prevail. | |
CLARIN. |
Yo con nuevos temores. |
Cla. Again with fear I die. | |
ROSAURA. |
Clarín... |
Ros. Clarin! | |
CLARIN |
Señora... |
Cla. My lady! | |
ROSAURA. |
Huigamos los rigores |
Ros. Let us turn and fly | |
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desta encantada torre. |
The risks of this enchanted tower. | |
CLARIN. |
Yo aún no tengo |
Cla. For one, | |
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ánimo de huir, cuando a eso vengo. |
I scarce have strength to stand, much less to run. | |
ROSAURA. |
¿No es breve luz aquella |
Ros. Is not that glimmer there afar--- | |
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caduca exhalación, pálida estrella, |
That dying exhalation---that pale star--- | |
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que en trémulos desmayos, |
A tiny taper, which, with trembling blaze | |
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pulsando ardores y latiendo rayos, |
Flickering ′twixt struggling flames and dying rays, | |
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hace más tenebrosa |
With ineffectual spark | |
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la obscura habitación con luz dudosa? |
Makes the dark dwelling place appear more dark? | |
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Sí, pues a sus reflejos |
Yes, for its distant light, | |
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puedo determinar (aunque de lejos) |
Reflected dimly, brings before my sight | |
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una prisión obscura |
A dungeon′s awful gloom, | |
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que es de un vivo cadáver sepultura; |
Say rather of a living corse, a living tomb; | |
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y porque más me asombre, |
And to increase my terror and surprise, | |
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en el traje de fiera yace un hombre |
Drest in the skins of beasts a man there lies: | |
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de prisiones cargado, |
A piteous sight, | |
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y sólo de la luz acompañado. |
Chained, and his sole companion this poor light. | |
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Pues hÜir no podemos, |
Since then we cannot fly, | |
100 | desde aquí sus desdichas escuchemos; | Let us attentive to his words draw nigh, | |
sepamos lo que dice. | Whatever they may be. | ||
(Descúbrese SEGISMUNDO con una cadena y a la luz, vestido de pieles.) | |||
SEGISMUNDO. | ¡Ay mísero de mí! ¡Y ay infelice! | Seg. Alas! Ah, wretched me! Ah, wretched me! | |
Apurar, cielos, pretendo | Heaven, here lying all forlorn, | ||
ya que me tratáis así, | I desire from thee to know, | ||
105 | qué delito cometí | Since thou thus dost treat me so, | |
contra vosotros naciendo; | Why have I provoked thy scorn | ||
aunque si nací, ya entiendo | By the crime of being born?--- | ||
qué delito he cometido. | Though for being born I feel | ||
Bastante causa ha tenido | Heaven with me must harshly deal, | ||
110 | vuestra justicia y rigor; | Since man′s greatest crime on earth | |
Is the fatal fact of birth--- | |||
pues el delito mayor | Sin supreme without appeal. | ||
del hombre es haber nacido. | This alone I ponder o′er, | ||
Sólo quisiera saber, | My strange mystery to pierce through; | ||
para apurar mis desvelos | Leaving wholly out of view | ||
115 | (dejando a una parte, cielos, | Germs my hapless birthday bore, | |
el delito de nacer), | How have I offended more, | ||
qué más os pude ofender, | That the more you punish me? | ||
para castigarme más. | Must not other creatures be | ||
¿No nacieron los demás? | Born? If born, what privilege | ||
120 | Pues si los demás nacieron, | Can they over me allege | |
¿qué privilegios tuvieron | Of which I should not be free? | ||
que yo no gocé jamás? | Birds are born, the bird that sings, | ||
Nace el ave, y con las galas | Richly robed by Nature′s dower, | ||
que le dan belleza suma, | Scarcely floats---a feathered flower, | ||
125 | apenas es flor de pluma, | Or a bunch of blooms with wings--- | |
o ramillete con alas | When to heaven′s high halls it springs, | ||
cuando las etéreas salas | Cuts the blue air fast and free, | ||
corta con velocidad, | And no longer bound will be | ||
negándose a la piedad | By the nest′s secure control:--- | ||
130 | del nido que deja en calma: | And with so much more of soul, | |
¿y teniendo yo más alma, | Must I have less liberty? | ||
tengo menos libertad? | Beasts are born, the beast whose skin | ||
Nace el bruto, y con la piel | Dappled o′er with beauteous spots, | ||
que dibujan manchas bellas, | As when the great pencil dots | ||
135 | apenas signo es de estrellas, | Heaven with stars, doth scarce begin | |
gracias al docto pincel, | From its impulses within--- | ||
cuando, atrevido y crÜel, | Nature′s stern necessity, | ||
la humana necesidad | To be schooled in cruelty,--- | ||
le enseña a tener crueldad, | Monster, waging ruthless war:--- | ||
140 | monstruo de su laberinto | And with instincts better far | |
¿y yo con mejor distinto | Must I have less liberty? | ||
tengo menos libertad? | Fish are born, the spawn that breeds | ||
Nace el pez, que no respira, | Where the oozy sea-weeds float, | ||
aborto de ovas y lamas, | Scarce perceives itself a boat, | ||
145 | y apenas bajel de escamas | Scaled and plated for its needs, | |
sobre las ondas se mira, | When from wave to wave it speeds, | ||
cuando a todas partes gira, | Measuring all the mighty sea, | ||
midiendo la inmensidad | Testing its profundity | ||
de tanta capacidad | To its depths so dark and chill:--- | ||
150 | como le da el centro frío: | And with so much freer will, | |
¿y yo con más albedrío | Must I have less liberty? | ||
tengo menos libertad? | Streams are born, a coiled-up snake | ||
Nace el arroyo, culebra | When its path the streamlet finds, | ||
que entre flores se desata, | Scarce a silver serpent winds | ||
155 | y apenas, sierpe de plata, | ′Mong the flowers it must forsake, | |
entre las flores se quiebra, | But a song of praise doth wake, | ||
cuando músico celebra | Mournful though its music be, | ||
de las flores la piedad | To the plain that courteously | ||
que le dan la majestad, | Opes a path through which it flies:--- | ||
160 | el campo abierto a su ida: | And with life that never dies, | |
y teniendo yo más vida | Must I have less liberty? | ||
tengo menos libertad? | When I think of this I start, | ||
En llegando a esta pasión | Ætna-like in wild unrest | ||
un volcán, un Etna hecho, | I would pluck from out my breast | ||
165 | quisiera sacar del pecho | Bit by bit my burning heart:--- | |
pedazos del corazón. | For what law can so depart | ||
¿Qué ley, justicia o razón | From all right, as to deny | ||
negar a los hombres sabe | One lone man that liberty--- | ||
privilegio tan sÜave, | That sweet gift which God bestows | ||
170 | excepción tan principal, | On the crystal stream that flows, | |
que Dios le ha dado a un cristal, | Birds and fish that float or fly? | ||
a un pez, a un bruto y a un ave? | |||
ROSAURA. | Temor y piedad en mí | Ros. Fear and deepest sympathy | |
sus razones han causado. | Do I feel at every word. | ||
175 | SEGISMUNDO. | ¿Quié[n] mis voces ha escuchado? | Sig. Who my sad lament has heard? |
¿Es Clotaldo? | What! Clotaldo! | ||
CLARIN. | (Aparte.) | Cla. | |
(Di que sí.) | Say ′tis he. | ||
ROSAURA. | No es sino un triste, ¡ay de mí! | Ros. No, ′tis but a wretch (ah, me!) | |
que en estas bóvedas frías | Who in these dark caves and cold | ||
oyó tus melancolías. | Hears the tale your lips unfold. | ||
(A sela.) | |||
180 | SEGISMUNDO. | Pues la muerte te daré, | Seg. Then you′ll die for listening so, |
porque no sepas que sé, | That you may not know I know | ||
que sabes flaquezas mías. | That you know the tale I told. | ||
Sólo porque me has oído, | Yes, you′ll die for loitering near: | ||
entre mis membrudos brazos | In these strong arms gaunt and grim | ||
185 | te tengo de hacer pedazos. | I will tear you limb from limb. | |
CLARIN. | Yo soy sordo, y no he podido | Cla. I am deaf and couldn′t hear:--- | |
escucharte. | No! | ||
ROSAURA. | Si has nacido | Ros. If human heart you bear, | |
humano, baste el postrarme | ′Tis enough that I prostrate me. | ||
a tus pies para librarme. | At thy feet, to liberate me! | ||
190 | SEGISMUNDO. | Tu voz pudo enternecerme, | Seg. Strange thy voice can so unbend me, |
tu presencia suspenderme, | Strange thy sight can so suspend me, | ||
y tu respeto turbarme. | And respect so penetrate me! | ||
¿Quién eres? Que aunque yo aquí | Who art thou? for though I see | ||
tan poco del mundo sé, | Little from this lonely room, | ||
195 | que cuna y sepulcro fue | This, my cradle and my tomb, | |
esta torre para mí; | Being all the world to me, | ||
y aunque desde que nací | And if birthday it could be, | ||
(si esto es nacer) sólo advierto | Since my birthday I have known | ||
este rústico desierto, | But this desert wild and lone, | ||
200 | donde miserable vivo, | Where throughout my life′s sad course | |
siendo un esqueleto vivo, | I have lived, a breathing corse, | ||
siendo un animado muerto; | I have moved, a skeleton; | ||
y aunque nunca vi ni hablé | And though I address or see | ||
sino a un hombre solamente | Never but one man alone, | ||
205 | que aquí mis desdichas siente, | Who my sorrows all hath known, | |
por quien las noticias sé | And through whom have come to me | ||
de cielo y tierra; y aunque aquí, | Notions of earth, sky, and sea; | ||
porque más te asombres | And though harrowing thee again, | ||
y monstruo humano me nombres, | Since thou′lt call me in this den, | ||
210 | entre asombros y quimeras, | Monster fit for bestial feasts, | |
soy un hombre de las fieras, | I′m a man among wild beasts, | ||
y una fiera de los hombres; | And a wild beast amongst men. | ||
y aunque en desdichas ta[n] graves | But though round me has been wrought | ||
la política he estudiado, | All this woe, from beasts I′ve learned | ||
215 | de los brutos enseñado, | Polity, the same discerned | |
advertido de las aves, | Heeding what the birds had taught, | ||
y de los astros sÜaves | And have measured in my thought | ||
los círculos he medido, | The fair orbits of the spheres; | ||
tú sólo, tú, has suspendido | You alone, ′midst doubts and fears, | ||
220 | la pasión a mis enojos, | Wake my wonder and surprise--- | |
la suspensión a mis ojos, | Give amazement to my eyes, | ||
la admiración al oído. | Admiration to my ears. | ||
Con cada vez que te veo | Every time your face I see | ||
nueva admiración me das, | You produce a new amaze: | ||
225 | y cuando te miro más | After the most steadfast gaze, | |
aun más mirarte deseo. | I again would gazer be. | ||
Ojos hidrópicos creo | I believe some hydropsy | ||
que mis ojos deben ser; | Must affect my sight, I think | ||
pues cuando es muerte el beber, | Death must hover on the brink | ||
230 | beben más, y desta suerte, | Of those wells of light, your eyes, | |
viendo que el ver me da muerte, | For I look with fresh surprise, | ||
estoy muriendo por ver. | And though death result, I drink. | ||
Pero véate yo y muera; | Let me see and die: forgive me; | ||
que no sé, rendido ya, | For I do not know, in faith, | ||
235 | si el verte muerte me da, | If to see you gives me death, | |
el no verte qué me diera. | What to see you not would give me; | ||
Fuera, más que muerte fiera, | Something worse than death would grieve me, | ||
ira, rabia y dolor fuerte; | Anger, rage, corroding care, | ||
fuera muerte; desta suerte | Death, but double death it were, | ||
240 | su rigor he ponderado, | Death with tenfold terrors rife, | |
pues dar vida a un desdichado | Since what gives the wretched life, | ||
es dar a un dichoso muerte. | Gives the happy death, despair! | ||
ROSAURA. | Con asombro de mirarte, | Ros. Thee to see wakes such dismay, | |
con admiración de oírte, | Thee to hear I so admire, | ||
245 | ni sé qué pueda decirte, | That I′m powerless to inquire, | |
ni qué pueda preguntarte. | That I know not what to say: | ||
Sólo diré que a esta parte | Only this, that I to-day, | ||
hoy el cielo me ha guiado | Guided by a wiser will, | ||
para haberme consolado, | Have here come to cure my ill, | ||
250 | si consuelo puede ser, | Here consoled my grief to see, | |
del que es desdichado, ver | If a wretch consoled can be | ||
a otro que es más desdichado. | Seeing one more wretched still. | ||
Cuentan de un sabio, que un día | Of a sage, who roamed dejected, | ||
tan pobre y mísero estaba, | Poor, and wretched, it is said, | ||
255 | que sólo se sustentaba | That one day, his wants being fed | |
de unas yerbas que comía. | By the herbs which he collected, | ||
¿Habrá otro -entre sí decía- | "Is there one" (he thus reflected) | ||
más pobre y triste que yo? | "Poorer than I am to-day?" | ||
Y cuando el rostro volvió | Turning round him to survey, | ||
260 | halló la respuesta, viendo | He his answer got, detecting | |
que iba otro sabio cogiendo | A still poorer sage collecting | ||
las hojas que él arrojó. | Even the leaves he threw away. | ||
Quejoso de la fortuna | Thus complaining to excess, | ||
yo en este mundo vivía, | Mourning fate, my life I led, | ||
265 | y cuando entre mí decía: | And when thoughtlessly I said | |
¿Habrá otra persona alguna | To myself, "Does earth possess | ||
de suerte más importuna?, | One more steeped in wretchedness?" | ||
piadoso me has respondido; | I in thee the answer find. | ||
pues volviendo en mi sentido, | Since revolving in my mind, | ||
270 | hallo que las penas mías, | I perceive that all my pains | |
para hacerlas tú alegrías, | To become thy joyful gains | ||
las hubieras recogido. | Thou hast gathered and entwined. | ||
Y por si acaso mis penas | And if haply some slight solace | ||
pueden aliviarte en parte, | By these pains may be imparted, | ||
275 | óyelas atento, y toma | Hear attentively the story | |
las que dellas me sobraren. | Of my life′s supreme disasters. | ||
Yo soy... | I am. ... | ||
CLOTALDO. | (Dentro CLOTALDO.) | Clo. (Within). Warders of this tower, | |
Guardas desta torre, | Who, or sleeping or faint-hearted, | ||
que, dormidas o cobardes, | Give an entrance to two persons | ||
disteis paso a dos personas | Who herein have burst a passage. ... | ||
280 | que han quebrantado la cárcel... | ||
ROSAURA. | Nueva confusión padezco. | Ros. New confusion now I suffer. | |
SEGISMUNDO. | Este es Clotaldo, mi alcaide. | Seg. ′Tis Clotaldo, who here guards me; | |
Aún no acaban mis desdichas. | Are not yet my miseries ended? | ||
CLOTALDO. | (Dentro.) | Clo. (Within). | |
... acudid, y vigilantes, | Hasten hither, quick! be active! | ||
285 | sin que puedan defenderse, | And before they can defend them, | |
o prendeldes o mataldes. | Kill them on the spot, or capture! | ||
TODOS. | (Dentro.) | (Voices within) | |
¡Traición! | Treason! | ||
CLARIN. | Guardas desta torre, | Cla. Watchguards of this tower, | |
que entrar aquí nos dejasteis, | Who politely let us pass here, | ||
pues que nos dais a escoger, | Since you have the choice of killing | ||
290 | el prendernos es más fácil. | Or of capturing, choose the latter. | |
Sale CLOTALDO con escopeta, y SOLDADOS, todos con los rostros cubiertos. | [EnterClotaldo and Soldiers; he with a pistol, and all with their faces covered. | ||
CLOTALDO. | Todos os cubrid los rostros; | Clo. (aside to the Soldiers). | |
que es diligencia importante | Keep your faces all well covered, | ||
mientras estamos aquí | For it is a vital matter | ||
que no nos conozca naide. | That we should be known by no one, | ||
295 | CLARIN. | ¿Enmascaraditos hay? | While I question these two stragglers. |
CLOTALDO. | ¡Oh vosotros, que ignorantes | Cla. Are there masqueraders here? | |
de aqueste vedado sitio | Clo. Ye who in your ignorant rashness | ||
coto y término pasasteis | Have passed through the bounds and limits | ||
contra el decreto del Rey, | Of this interdicted valley, | ||
300 | que manda que no ose nadie | ′Gainst the edict of the King, | |
Who has publicly commanded | |||
examinar el prodigio | None should dare descry the wonder | ||
que entre estos peñascos yace! | That among these rocks is guarded, | ||
¡Rendid las armas y vidas, | Yield at once your arms and lives, | ||
o aquesta pistola, áspid | Or this pistol, this cold aspic | ||
305 | de metal, escupirá | Formed of steel, the penetrating | |
el veneno penetrante | Poison of two balls will scatter, | ||
de dos balas, cuyo fuego | The report and fire of which | ||
será escándalo del aire! | Will the air astound and startle. | ||
SEGISMUNDO. | Primero, tirano dueño, | Seg. Ere you wound them, ere you hurt them, | |
310 | que los ofendas y agravies, | Will my life, O tyrant master, | |
será mi vida despojo | Be the miserable victim | ||
destos lazos miserables; | Of these wretched chains that clasp me; | ||
pues en ellos, vive Dios, | Since in them, I vow to God, | ||
tengo de despedazarme | I will tear myself to fragments | ||
315 | con las manos, con los dientes, | With my hands, and with my teeth, | |
entre aquestas peñas, antes | In these rocks here, in these caverns, | ||
que su desdicha consienta | Ere I yield to their misfortunes, | ||
y que llore sus ultrajes. | Or lament their sad disaster. | ||
CLOTALDO. | Si sabes que tus desdichas, | Clo. If you know that your misfortunes, | |
320 | Segismundo, son tan grandes, | Sigismund, are unexampled, | |
que antes de nacer moriste | Since before being born you died | ||
por ley del cielo; si sabes | By Heaven′s mystical enactment; | ||
que aquestas prisiones son | If you know these fetters are | ||
de tus furias arrogantes | Of your furies oft so rampant | ||
325 | un freno que las detenga | But the bridle that detains them, | |
y una rienda que las pare, | But the circle that contracts them. | ||
¿por qué blasonas? La puerta | Why these idle boasts? The door | ||
cerrad desa estrecha cárcel; | Of this narrow prison fasten; | ||
escondelde en ella. | Leave him there secured. | ||
330 | SEGISMUNDO. | ¡Ah cielos, | Seg. Ah, heavens, |
qué bien hacéis en quitarme | It is wise of you to snatch me | ||
la libertad! Porque fuera | Thus from freedom! since my rage | ||
contra vosotros gigante, | ′Gainst you had become Titanic, | ||
que, para quebrar al sol | Since to break the glass and crystal | ||
esos vidrios y cristales, | Gold-gates of the sun, my anger | ||
335 | sobre cimientos de piedra | On the firm-fixed rocks′ foundations | |
pusiera montes de jaspe. | Would have mountains piled of marble. | ||
CLOTALDO. | Quizá porque no los pongas, | Clo. ′Tis that you should not so pile them | |
hoy padeces tantos males. | That perhaps these ills have happened, | ||
ROSAURA. | Ya que vi que la soberbia | Ros. Since I now have seen how pride | |
340 | te ofendió tanto, ignorante | Can offend thee, I were hardened | |
fuera en no pedirte humilde | Sure in folly not here humbly | ||
vida que a tus plantas yace. | At thy feet for life to ask thee; | ||
Muévate en mí la piedad; | Then to me extend thy pity, | ||
que será rigor notable | Since it were a special harshness | ||
345 | que no hallen favor en ti | If humility and pride, | |
ni soberbias ni humildades. | Both alike were disregarded. | ||
CLARIN. | Y si Humildad y Soberbia | Cla. If Humility and Pride | |
no te obligan, personajes | Those two figures who have acted | ||
que han movido y removido | Many and many a thousand times | ||
350 | mil autos sacramentales, | In the autos sacramentales, | |
yo, ni humilde ni soberbio, | Do not move you, I, who am neither | ||
sino entre las dos mitades | Proud nor humble, but a sandwich | ||
entreverado, te pido | Partly mixed of both, entreat you | ||
que nos remedies y ampares. | To extend to us your pardon. | ||
355 | CLOTALDO. | ¡Hola! | Clo. Ho! |
SOLDADOS. | Señor... | Sol. My lord? | |
CLOTALDO. | A los dos | Clo. Disarm the two, | |
quitad las armas, y ataldes | And their eyes securely bandage, | ||
los ojos, porque no vean | So that they may not be able | ||
cómo ni de dónde salen. | To see whither they are carried. | ||
ROSAURA. | Mi espada es ésta, que a ti | Ros. This is, sir, my sword; to thee | |
360 | solamente ha de entregarse, | Only would I wish to hand it, | |
porque, al fin, de todos eres | Since in fine of all the others | ||
el principal, y no sabe | Thou art chief, and I could hardly | ||
rendirse a menos valor. | Yield it unto one less noble. | ||
CLARIN. | La mía es tal, que puede darse | Cla. Mine I′ll give the greatest rascal | |
365 | al más ruin; tomadla vos. | Of your troop: so take it, you. | |
ROSAURA. | Y si he de morir, dejarte | Ros. And if I must die, to thank thee | |
quiero, en la fe desta piedad, | For thy pity, I would leave thee | ||
prenda que pudo estimarse | This as pledge, which has its value | ||
por el dueño que algún día | From the owner who once wore it; | ||
370 | se la ciñó. Que la guardes | That thou guard it well, I charge thee, | |
te encargo, porque aunque yo | For although I do not know | ||
no sé qué secreto alcance, | What strange secret it may carry, | ||
sé que esta dorada espada | This I know, that some great mystery | ||
encierra misterios grandes; | Lies within this golden scabbard, | ||
375 | pues sólo fiado en ella | Since relying but on it | |
vengo a Polonia a vengarme | I to Poland here have travelled | ||
de un agravio. | To revenge a wrong. | ||
CLOTALDO. | (Aparte.) | Clo. (Aside.) | |
(¡Santos cielos! | Just heavens! | ||
¿Qué es esto? Ya son más graves | What is this? Still graver, darker, | ||
mis penas y confusiones, | Grow my doubts and my confusion, | ||
380 | mis ansias y mis pesares.) | My anxieties and my anguish.--- | |
¿Quién te la dio? | Speak, who gave you this? | ||
ROSAURA. | Una mujer. | Ros. A woman. | |
CLOTALDO. | ¿Cómo se llama? | Clo. And her name? | |
ROSAURA. | Que calle | Ros. To that my answer | |
su nombre es fuerza. | Must be silence. | ||
CLOTALDO. | ¿De qué | Clo. But from what | |
infieres agora, o sabes, | Do you now infer, or fancy, | ||
385 | que hay secreto en esta espada? | That this sword involves a secret? | |
ROSAURA. | Quien me la dio, dijo: «Parte | Ros. She who gave it said: "Depart hence | |
a Polonia, y solicita | Into Poland, and by study, | ||
con ingenio, estudio o arte, | Stratagem, and skill so manage | ||
que te vean esa espada | That this sword may be inspected | ||
390 | los nobles y principales; | By the nobles and the magnates | |
que yo sé que alguno dellos | Of that land, for you, I know, | ||
te favorezca y ampare»; | Will by one of them be guarded,"--- | ||
que por si acaso era muerto | But his name, lest he was dead, | ||
no quiso entonces nombrarle. | Was not then to me imparted. | ||
395 | CLOTALDO. | (Aparte.) | Clo. (Aside). |
¡Válgame el cielo! ¿Qué escucho? | Bless me, Heaven! what′s this I hear? | ||
Aun no sé determinarme | For so strangely has this happened, | ||
si tales sucesos son | That I cannot yet determine | ||
ilusiones o verdades. | If ′tis real or imagined. | ||
Esta espada es la que yo | This is the same sword that I | ||
400 | dejé a la hermosa Violante, | Left with beauteous Violante, | |
por señas que el que ceñida | As a pledge unto its wearer, | ||
la trujera, había de hallarme | Who might seek me out thereafter, | ||
amoroso como hijo, | As a son that I would love him, | ||
y piadoso como padre. | And protect him as a father. | ||
405 | Pues ¿qué he de hacer, ¡ay de mí!, | What is to be done (ah, me!) | |
en confusión semejante, | In confusion so entangled, | ||
si quien la trae por favor | If he who for safety bore it | ||
para su muerte la trae, | Bears it now but to dispatch him, | ||
pues que sentenciado a muerte | Since condemned to death he cometh | ||
410 | llega a mis pies? ¡Qué notable | To my feet? How strange a marvel! | |
confusión! ¡Qué triste hado! | What a lamentable fortune! | ||
¡Qué suerte tan inconstante! | How unstable! how unhappy! | ||
Este es mi hijo, y las señas | This must be my son---the tokens | ||
dicen bien con las señales | All declare it, superadded | ||
415 | del corazón, que por verle | To the flutter of the heart, | |
llama el pecho, y en él bate | That to see him loudly rappeth | ||
las alas, y no pudiendo | At the breast, and not being able | ||
romper los candados, hace | With its throbs to burst its chamber, | ||
lo que aquel que está encerrado, | Does as one in prison, who, | ||
420 | y oyendo ruido en la calle | Hearing tumult in the alley, | |
se asoma por la ventana: | Strives to look from out the window; | ||
y él así, como no sabe | Thus, not knowing what here passes | ||
lo que pasa, y oye el ruido, | Save the noise, the heart uprusheth | ||
va a los ojos a asomarse, | To the eyes the cause to examine--- | ||
425 | que son ventanas del pecho | They the windows of the heart, | |
por donde en lágrimas sale. | Out through which in tears it glances. | ||
¿Qué he de hacer? ¡Válgame el cielo! | What is to be done? (O Heavens!) | ||
¿Qué he de hacer? Porque llevarle | What is to be done? To drag him | ||
al Rey es llevarle, ¡ay triste!, | Now before the King were death; | ||
430 | a morir, pues ocultarle | But to hide him from my master, | |
al Rey no puedo, conforme | That I cannot do, according | ||
a la ley del homenaje. | To my duty as a vassal. | ||
De una parte el amor propio, | Thus my loyalty and self-love | ||
y la lealtad de otra parte | Upon either side attack me; | ||
435 | me rinden. Pero ¿qué dudo? | Each would win. But wherefore doubt? | |
¿La lealtad al Rey no es antes | Is not loyalty a grander, | ||
que la vida y que el honor? | Nobler thing than life, than honour? | ||
Pues ella viva y él falte. | Then let loyalty live, no matter | ||
Fuera de que, si ahora atiendo | That he die; besides, he told me, | ||
440 | a que dijo que a vengarse | If I well recall his language, | |
viene de un agravio, hombre | That he came to revenge a wrong, | ||
que está agraviado, es infame. | But a wronged man is a lazar,--- | ||
No es mi hijo, no es mi hijo, | No, he cannot be my son, | ||
ni tiene mi noble sangre. | Not the son of noble fathers. | ||
445 | Pero si ya ha sucedido | But if some great chance, which no one | |
un peligro de quien nadie | Can be free from, should have happened, | ||
se libró, porque el honor | Since the delicate sense of honour | ||
es de materia tan fácil | Is a thing so fine, so fragile, | ||
que con una acción se quiebra | That the slightest touch may break it, | ||
450 | o se mancha con un aire, | Or the faintest breath may tarnish, | |
¿qué más puede hacer, qué más | What could he do more, do more, | ||
el que es noble de su parte, | He whose cheek the blue blood mantles, | ||
que a costa de tantos riesgos | But at many risks to have come here | ||
haber venido a buscarle? | It again to re-establish? | ||
455 | Mi hijo es, mi sangre tiene, | Yes, he is my son, my blood, | |
pues tiene valor tan grande; | Since he shows himself so manly. | ||
y así, entre una y otra duda, | And thus then betwixt two doubts | ||
el medio más importante | A mid course alone is granted: | ||
es irme al Rey, y decirle | ′Tis to seek the King, and tell him | ||
460 | que es mi hijo, y que le mate. | Who he is, let what will happen. | |
Quizá la misma piedad | A desire to save my honour | ||
de mi honor podrá obligarle; | May appease my royal master; | ||
y si le merezco vivo, | Should he spare his life, I then | ||
yo le ayudaré a vengarse | Will assist him in demanding | ||
465 | de su agravio. Mas si el Rey, | His revenge; but if the King | |
en sus rigores constante, | Should, persisting in his anger, | ||
le da muerte, morirá | Give him death, then he will die | ||
sin saber que soy su padre.) | Without knowing I′m his father.--- | ||
Venid conmigo, extranjeros. | Come, then, come then with me, strangers. | ||
470 | No ternáis, no, de que os falte | Do not fear in your disasters | |
compañía en las desdichas; | That you will not have companions | ||
pues en duda semejante | In misfortune; for so balanced | ||
de vivir o de morir, | Are the gains of life or death, | ||
no sé cuáles son más grandes. | That I know not which are larger. | ||
(Vanse.) | |||
Sale por una parte ASTOLFO con acompañamiento de soldados, y por otra ESTRELLA con damas. Suena música. | Enter at one side Astolfo and Soldiers, and at the other the Infanta Estrella and her Ladies. Military music and salutes within. | ||
475 | ASTOLFO. | Bien al ver los excelentes | Ast. Struck at once with admiration |
rayos, que fueron cometas, | At thy starry eyes outshining, | ||
mezclan salvas diferentes | Mingle many a salutation, | ||
las cajas y las trompetas, | Drums and trumpet-notes combining, | ||
los pájaros y las fuentes; | Founts and birds in alternation; | ||
480 | siendo con música igual, | Wondering here to see thee pass, | |
y con maravilla suma, | Music in grand chorus gathers | ||
a tu vista celestial, | All her notes from grove and grass: | ||
unos, clarines de pluma, | Here are trumpets formed of feathers, | ||
y otras, aves de metal; | There are birds that breathe in brass. | ||
485 | y así os saludan, señora, | All salute thee, fair Señora, | |
como a su reina las balas, | Ordnance as their Queen proclaim thee, | ||
los pájaros como a Aurora, | Beauteous birds as their Aurora, | ||
las trompetas como a Palas, | As their Pallas trumpets name thee, | ||
y las flores como a Flora; | And the sweet flowers as their Flora; | ||
490 | porque sois, burlando el día, | For Aurora sure thou art, | |
que ya la noche destierra, | Bright as day that conquers night--- | ||
Aurora en el alegría, | Thine is Flora′s peaceful part, | ||
Flora en paz, Palas en guerra, | Thou art Pallas in thy might, | ||
y reina en el alma mía. | And as Queen thou rul′st my heart. | ||
495 | ESTRELLA. | Si la voz se ha de medir | Est. If the human voice obeying |
con las acciones humanas, | Should with human action pair, | ||
mal habéis hecho en decir | Then you have said ill in saying | ||
finezas tan cortesanas, | All these flattering words and fair, | ||
donde os pueda desmentir | Since in truth they are gainsaying | ||
500 | todo ese marcial trofeo | This parade of victory, | |
con quien ya atrevida lucho; | ′Gainst which I my standard rear, | ||
pues no dicen, según creo, | Since they say, it seems to me, | ||
las lisonjas que os escucho, | Not the flatteries that I hear, | ||
con los rigores que veo. | But the rigours that I see. | ||
505 | Y advertid que es baja acción, | Think, too, what a base invention | |
que sólo a una fiera toca, | From a wild beast′s treachery sprung,--- | ||
madre de engaño y traición, | Fraudful mother of dissension--- | ||
el halagar con la boca | Is to flatter with the tongue, | ||
y matar con la intención. | And to kill with the intention. | ||
510 | ASTOLFO. | Muy mal informada estáis, | Ast. Ill informed you must have been, |
Estrella, pues que la fe | Fair Estrella, thus to throw | ||
de mis finezas dudáis, | Doubt on my respectful mien: | ||
y os suplico que me oigáis | Let your ear attentive lean | ||
la causa, a ver si la sé. | While the cause I strive show. | ||
515 | Falleció Eustorgio tercero, | King Eustorgius the Fair, | |
Rey de Polonia, quedó | Third so called, died, leaving two | ||
Basilio por heredero, | Daughters, and Basilius heir; | ||
y dos hijas, de quien yo | Of his sisters I and you | ||
y vos nacimos. No quiero | Are the children---I forbear | ||
520 | cansar con lo que no tiene | To recall a single scene | |
lugar aquí. Clorilene, | Save what′s needful. Clorilene, | ||
vuestra madre y mi señora, | Your good mother and my aunt, | ||
que en mejor imperio agora | Who is now a habitant | ||
dosel de luceros tiene, | Of a sphere of sunnier sheen, | ||
525 | fue la mayor, de quien vos | Was the elder, of whom you | |
sois hija. Fue la segunda, | Are the daughter; Recisunda, | ||
madre y tía de los dos, | Whom God guard a thousand years, | ||
la gallarda Recisunda, | Her fair sister (Rosamunda | ||
que guarde mil años Dios. | Were she called if names were true) | ||
530 | Casó en Moscovia, de quien | Wed in Muscovy, of whom | |
nací yo. Volver agora | I was born. ′Tis needful now | ||
al otro principio es bien. | The commencement to resume. | ||
Basilio, que ya, señora, | King Basilius, who doth bow | ||
se rinde al común desdén | ′Neath the weight of years, the doom | ||
535 | del tiempo, más inclinado | Age imposes, more inclined | |
a los estudios que dado | To the studies of the mind | ||
a mujeres, enviudó | Than to women, wifeless, lone, | ||
sin hijos; y vos y yo | Without sons, to fill his throne | ||
aspiramos a este estado. | I and you our way would find. | ||
540 | Vos alegáis que habéis sido | You, the elder′s child, averred, | |
hija de hermana mayor; | That the crown you stood more nigh: | ||
yo, que varón he nacido, | I, maintaining that you erred, | ||
y aunque de hermana menor, | Held, though born of the younger, I, | ||
os debo ser preferido. | Being a man, should be preferred. | ||
545 | Vuestra intención y la mía | Thus our mutual pretension | |
a nuestro tío contamos. | To our uncle we related, | ||
El respondió que quería | Who replied that he would mention | ||
componernos, y aplazamos | Here, and on this day he stated, | ||
este puesto y este día. | What might settle the dissension. | ||
550 | Con esta intención salí | With this end, from Muscovy | |
de Moscovia y de su tierra; | I set out, and with that view, | ||
con ésta llegué hasta aquí, | I to-day fair Poland see, | ||
en vez de haceros yo guerra, | And not making war on you, | ||
a que me la hagáis a mí. | Wait till war you make on me. | ||
555 | ¡Oh, quiera Amor, sabio dios, | Would to love---that God so wise--- | |
que el vulgo, astrólogo cierto, | That the crowd may be a sure | ||
hoy lo sea con los dos, | Astrologue to read the skies, | ||
y que pare este concierto | And this festive truce secure | ||
en que seáis reina vos, | Both to you and me the prize, | ||
560 | pero reina en mi albedrío, | Making you a Queen, but Queen | |
dándoos, para más honor, | By my will, our uncle leaving | ||
su corona nuestro tío, | You the throne we′ll share between--- | ||
sus triunfos vuestro valor, | And my love a realm receiving | ||
y su imperio el amor mío! | Dearer than a King′s demesne. | ||
565 | ESTRELLA. | A tan cortés bizarría | Est. Well, I must be generous too, |
menos mi pecho no muestra, | For a gallantry so fine; | ||
pues la imperial monarquía, | This imperial realm you view, | ||
para sólo hacerla vuestra, | If I wish it to be mine | ||
me holgara que fuese mía; | ′Tis to give it unto you. | ||
570 | aunque no está satisfecho | Though if I the truth confessed, | |
mi amor de que sois ingrato | I must fear your love may fail--- | ||
si en cuanto decís, sospecho | Flattering words are words at best, | ||
que os desmiente ese retrato | For perhaps a truer tale | ||
que está pendiente del pecho. | Tells that portrait on your breast. | ||
575 | ASTOLFO. | Satisfaceros intento | Ast. On that point complete content |
con él... Mas lugar no da | Will I give your mind, not here, | ||
tanto sonoro instrumento, | For each sounding instrument | ||
que avisa que sale ya | Tells us that the King is near, | ||
el Rey con su parlamento. | With his Court and Parliament | ||
Tocan, y sale el Rey BASILIO, viejo y acompañamiento. | The King Basilius, with his retinue.---. | ||
580 | ESTRELLA. | Sabio Tales... | Est. Learned Euclid ... |
ASTOLFO. | Docto Euclides... | Ast. Thales wise ... | |
ESTRELLA. | que entre signos... | Est. The vast Zodiac ... | |
ASTOLFO. | que entre estrellas... | Ast. The star spaces ... | |
ESTRELLA. | hoy gobiernas... | Est. Who dost soar to ... | |
ASTOLFO. | hoy resides... | Ast. Who dost rise ... | |
ESTRELLA. | y sus caminos... | Est. The sun′s orbit ... | |
ASTOLFO. | sus huellas... | Ast. The stars′ places ... | |
ESTRELLA. | describes... | Est. To describe ... | |
ASTOLFO. | tasas y mides... | Ast. To map the skies ... | |
585 | ESTRELLA. | deja que en humildes lazos... | Est. Let me humbly interlacing ... |
ASTOLFO. | deja que en tiernos abrazos... | As. Let me lovingly embracing ... | |
ESTRELLA. | yedra dese tronco sea... | Est. Be the tendril of thy tree. | |
ASTOLFO. | rendido a tus pies me vea. | Ast. Bend respectfully my knee. | |
BASILIO. | Sobrinos, dadme los brazos, | Bas. Children, that dear word displacing | |
590 | y creed, pues que leales | Colder names, my arms here bless; | |
a mi precepto amoroso, | And be sure, since you assented | ||
venís con afectos tales, | To my plan, my love′s excess | ||
que a nadie deje quejoso, | Will leave neither discontented, | ||
y los dos quedéis iguales. | Or give either more or less. | ||
595 | Y así, cuando me confieso | And though I from being old | |
rendido al prolijo peso, | Slowly may the facts unfold, | ||
sólo os pido en la ocasión | Hear in silence my narration, | ||
silencio, que admiración | Keep reserved your admiration, | ||
ha de pedirla el suceso. | Till the wondrous tale is told. | ||
600 | Ya sabéis (estadme atentos | You already know---I pray you | |
amados sobrinos míos, | Be attentive, dearest children, | ||
corte ilustre de Polonia, | Great, illustrious Court of Poland, | ||
vasallos, deudos y amigos), | Faithful vassals, friends and kinsmen, | ||
ya sabéis que yo en el mundo | You already know---my studies | ||
605 | por mi ciencia he merecido | Have throughout the whole world given me | |
el sobrenombre de docto; | The high title of "the learnéd," | ||
pues, contra el tiempo y olvido, | Since ′gainst time and time′s oblivion | ||
los pinceles de Timantes | The rich pencils of Timanthes, | ||
los mármoles de Lisipo, | The bright marbles of Lysippus, | ||
610 | en el ámbito del orbe | Universally proclaim me | |
me aclaman el gran Basilio. | Through earth′s bounds the great Basilius. | ||
Ya sabéis que son las ciencias | You already know the sciences | ||
que más curso y más estimo, | That I feel my mind most given to | ||
matemáticas sutiles, | Are the subtle mathematics, | ||
615 | por quien al tiempo le quito, | By whose means my clear prevision | |
por quien a la fama rompo | Takes from rumour its slow office, | ||
la jurisdicción y oficio | Takes from time its jurisdiction | ||
de enseñar más cada día; | Of, each day, new facts disclosing; | ||
pues cuando en mis tablas miro | Since in algebraic symbols | ||
620 | presentes las novedades | When the fate of future ages | |
de los venideros siglos, | On my tablets I see written, | ||
le gano al tiempo las gracias | I anticipate time in telling | ||
de contar lo que yo he dicho. | What my science hath predicted. | ||
Esos círculos de nieve, | All those circles of pure snow, | ||
625 | esos doseles de vidrio, | All those canopies of crystal, | |
que el sol ilumina a rayos, | Which the sun with rays illumines, | ||
que parte la luna a giros, | Which the moon cuts in its circles, | ||
esos orbes de diamantes, | All those orbs of twinkling diamond, | ||
esos globos cristalinos, | All those crystal globes that glisten, | ||
630 | que las estrellas adornan | All that azure field of stars | |
y que campean los signos, | Where the zodiac signs are pictured, | ||
son el estudio mayor | Are the study of my life, | ||
de mis años, son los libros | Are the books where heaven has written | ||
donde en papel de diamante, | Upon diamond-dotted paper, | ||
635 | en cuadernos de zafiros, | Upon leaves by sapphires tinted, | |
escribe con líneas de oro, | With light luminous lines of gold, | ||
en caracteres distintos, | In clear characters distinctly | ||
el cielo nuestros sucesos, | All the events of human life, | ||
ya adversos o ya benignos. | Whether adverse or benignant. | ||
640 | Estos leo tan veloz, | These so rapidly I read | |
que con mi espíritu sigo | That I follow with the quickness | ||
sus rápidos movimientos | Of my thoughts the swiftest movements | ||
por rumbos y por caminos. | Of their orbits and their circles. | ||
¡Pluguiera al cielo, primero | Would to heaven, that ere my mind | ||
645 | que mi ingenio hubiera sido | To those mystic books addicted | |
de sus márgenes comento | Was the comment of their margins | ||
y de sus hojas registro, | And of all their leaves the index, | ||
hubiera sido mi vida | Would to heaven, I say, my life | ||
el primero desperdicio | Had been offered the first victim | ||
650 | de sus iras, y que en ellas | Of its anger, that my death-stroke | |
mi tragedia hubiera sido, | Had in this way have been given me, | ||
porque de los infelices | Since the unhappy find even merit | ||
aun el mérito es cuchillo, | Is the fatal knife that kills them, | ||
que a quien le daña el saber, | And his own self-murderer | ||
655 | homicida es de sí mismo! | Is the man whom knowledge injures!--- | |
Dígalo yo, aunque mejor | I may say so, but my story | ||
lo dirán sucesos míos, | So will say with more distinctness, | ||
para cuya admiración | And to win your admiration | ||
otra vez silencio os pido. | Once again I pray you listen.--- | ||
660 | En Clorilene, mi esposa, | Clorilene, my wife, a son | |
tuve un infelice hijo, | Bore me, so by fate afflicted | ||
en cuyo parto los cielos | That on his unhappy birthday | ||
se agotaron de prodigios, | All Heaven′s prodigies assisted. | ||
antes que a la luz hermosa | Nay, ere yet to life′s sweet light | ||
665 | le diese el sepulcro vivo | Gave him forth her womb, that living | |
de un vientre, porque el nacer | Sepulchre (for death and life | ||
y el morir son parecidos. | Have like ending and beginning), | ||
Su madre infinitas veces, | Many a time his mother saw | ||
entre ideas y delirios | In her dreams′ delirious dimness | ||
670 | del sueño, vio que rompía | From her side a monster break, | |
sus entrañas atrevido | |||
un monstruo en forma de ho[m]bre, | Fashioned like a man, but sprinkled | ||
y entre su sangre teñido | With her blood, who gave her death, | ||
le daba muerte, naciendo | |||
675 | víbora humana del siglo | By that human viper bitten. | |
Llegó de su parto el día, | Round his birthday came at last, | ||
y los presagios cumplidos | All its auguries fulfilling | ||
(porque tarde o nunca son | (For the presages of evil | ||
mentirosos los impíos), | Seldom fail or even linger): | ||
680 | nació en horóscopo tal, | Came with such a horoscope, | |
que el sol, en su sangre tinto, | That the sun rushed blood-red tinted | ||
entraba sañudamente | Into a terrific combat | ||
con la luna en desafío; | With the dark moon that resisted; | ||
y siendo valla la tierra | Earth its mighty lists outspread | ||
685 | los dos faroles divinos | As with lessening lights diminished | |
a luz entera luchaban, | Strove the twin-lamps of the sky. | ||
ya que no a brazo partido. | ′Twas of all the sun′s eclipses | ||
El mayor, el más horrendo | The most dreadful that it suffered | ||
eclipse que ha padecido | |||
690 | el sol, después que con sangre | Since the hour its bloody visage | |
lloró la muerte de Cristo, | Wept the awful death of Christ. | ||
éste fue, porque, anegado | For o′erwhelmed in glowing cinders | ||
el orbe entre incendios vivos, | The great orb appeared to suffer | ||
presumió que padecía | |||
695 | el último parasismo. | Nature′s final paroxysm. | |
Los cielos se escurecieron, | Gloom the glowing noontide darkened, | ||
temblaron los edificios, | Earthquake shook the mightiest buildings, | ||
llovieron piedras las nubes, | Stones the angry clouds rained down, | ||
corrieron sangre los ríos. | And with blood ran red the rivers. | ||
700 | En este mísero, en este | In this frenzy of the sun, | |
mortal planeta o signo, | In its madness and delirium, | ||
nació Segismundo dando | Sigismund was born, thus early | ||
de su condición indicios, | Giving proofs of his condition, | ||
pues dio la muerte a su madre, | Since his birth his mother slew, | ||
705 | con cuya fiereza dijo: | Just as if these words had killed her, | |
«Ho[m]bre soy, pues que ya empiezo | "I am a man, since good with evil | ||
a pagar mal beneficios.» | I repay here from the beginning,"--- | ||
Yo, acudiendo a mis estudios, | I, applying to my studies, | ||
en ellos y en todo miro | Saw in them as ′twere forewritten | ||
710 | que Segismundo sería | This, that Sigismund would be | |
el hombre más atrevido, | The most cruel of all princes, | ||
el príncipe más crÜel | Of all men the most audacious, | ||
y el monarca más impío, | Of all monarchs the most wicked; | ||
por quien su reino vendría | That his kingdom through his means | ||
715 | a ser parcial y diviso, | Would be broken and partitioned, | |
escuela de las traiciones | The academy of the vices, | ||
y academia de los vicios; | And the high school of sedition; | ||
y él, de su furor llevado, | And that he himself, borne onward | ||
entre asombros y delitos, | By his crimes′ wild course resistless, | ||
720 | había de poner en mí | Would even place his feet on me: | |
las plantas, y yo rendido | For I saw myself down-stricken, | ||
a sus pies me había de ver | Lying on the ground before him | ||
(¡con qué congoja lo digo!) | (To say this what shame it gives me!) | ||
siendo alfombra de sus plantas | While his feet on my white hairs | ||
725 | las canas del rostro mío. | As a carpet were imprinted. | |
¿Quién no da crédito al daño, | Who discredits threatened ill, | ||
y más al daño que ha visto | Specially an ill previsioned | ||
en su estudio, donde hace | By one′s study, when self-love | ||
el amor propio su oficio? | Makes it his peculiar business?--- | ||
730 | Pues dando crédito yo | Thus then crediting the fates | |
a los hados, que adivinos | Which far off my science witnessed, | ||
me pronosticaban daños | All these fatal auguries | ||
en fatales vaticinios, | Seen though dimly in the distance, | ||
determiné de encerrar | I resolved to chain the monster | ||
735 | la fiera que había nacido, | That unhappily life was given to, | |
por ver si el sabio tenía | To find out if yet the stars | ||
en las estrellas dominio. | Owned the wise man′s weird dominion. | ||
Publicóse que el Infante | It was publicly proclaimed | ||
nació muerto; y, prevenido, | That the sad ill-omened infant | ||
740 | hice labrar una torre | Was stillborn. I then a tower | |
entre las peñas y riscos | Caused by forethought to be builded | ||
desos montes, donde apenas | ′Mid the rocks of these wild mountains | ||
la luz ha hallado camino, | Where the sunlight scarce can gild it, | ||
por defenderle la entrada | Its glad entrance being barred | ||
745 | sus rústicos obeliscos. | By these rude shafts obeliscal. | |
Las graves penas y leyes, | All the laws of which you know, | ||
que con públicos editos | All the edicts that prohibit | ||
declararon que ninguno | Anyone on pain of death | ||
entrase a un vedado sitio | That secluded part to visit | ||
750 | del monte, se ocasionaron | Of the mountain, were occasioned | |
de las causas que os he dicho. | By this cause, so long well hidden. | ||
Allí Segismundo vive | There still lives Prince Sigismund, | ||
mísero, pobre y cautivo, | Miserable, poor, in prison. | ||
adonde sólo Clotaldo | Him alone Clotaldo sees, | ||
755 | le ha hablado, tratado y visto. | Only tends to and speaks with him; | |
Este le ha enseñado ciencias; | He the sciences has taught him, | ||
éste en la ley le ha instrÜido | He the Catholic religion | ||
católica, siendo solo | Has imparted to him, being | ||
de sus miserias testigo. | Of his miseries the sole witness. | ||
760 | Aquí hay tres cosas: la una | Here there are three things: the first | |
que yo, Polonia, os estimo | I rate highest, since my wishes | ||
tanto que os quiero librar | Are, O Poland, thee to save | ||
de la opresión y servicio | From the oppression, the affliction | ||
de un rey tirano, porque | Of a tyrant King, because | ||
765 | no fuera señor benigno | Of his country and his kingdom | |
el que a su patria y su imperio | He were no benignant father | ||
pusiera en tanto peligro. | Who to such a risk could give it. | ||
La otra es considerar | Secondly, the thought occurs | ||
que si a mi sangre le quito | That to take from mine own issue | ||
770 | el derecho que le dieron | The plain right that every law | |
humano fuero y divino, | Human and divine hath given him | ||
no es cristiana caridad; | Is not Christian charity; | ||
pues ninguna ley ha dicho | For by no law am I bidden | ||
que por reservar yo a otro | To prevent another proving, | ||
775 | de tirano y de atrevido, | Say, a tyrant, or a villain, | |
pueda yo serlo, supuesto | To be one myself: supposing | ||
que si es tirano mi hijo, | Even my son should be so guilty, | ||
porque él delitos no haga, | That he should not crimes commit | ||
vengo yo a hacer los delitos. | I myself should first commit them. | ||
780 | Es la última y tercera | Then the third and last point is, | |
el ver cuánto yerro ha sido | That perhaps I erred in giving | ||
dar crédito fácilmente | Too implicit a belief | ||
a los sucesos previstos; | To the facts foreseen so dimly; | ||
pues aunque su inclinación | For although his inclination | ||
785 | le dicte sus precipicios, | Well might find its precipices, | |
quizá no le vencerán, | He might possibly escape them: | ||
porque el hado más esquivo, | For the fate the most fastidious, | ||
la inclinación más violenta, | For the impulse the most powerful, | ||
el planeta más impío, | Even the planets most malicious | ||
790 | sólo el albedrío inclinan, | Only make free will incline, | |
no fuerzan el albedrío. Y así, | But can force not human wishes. | ||
entre una y otra causa | And thus ′twixt these different causes | ||
vacilante y discursivo, | Vacillating and unfixèd, | ||
previne un remedio tal | I a remedy have thought of | ||
795 | que os suspenda los sentidos. | Which will with new wonder fill you. | |
Yo he de ponerle mañana | I to-morrow morning purpose, | ||
sin que él sepa que es mi hijo | Without letting it be hinted | ||
That he is my son, and therefore | |||
y rey vuestro, a Segismundo | Your true King, at once to fix him | ||
(que aqueste su nombre ha sido) | As King Sigismund (for the name | ||
Still he bears that first was given him) | |||
800 | en mi dosel, en mi silla, | ′Neath my canopy, on my throne, | |
y, en fin, en el lugar mío, | And in fine in my position, | ||
donde os gobierne y os mande, | There to govern and command you, | ||
y donde todos rendidos | Where in dutiful submission | ||
la obediencia le juréis; | You will swear to him allegiance. | ||
805 | pues con aquesto consigo | My resources thus are triple, | |
tres cosas, con que respondo | As the causes of disquiet | ||
a las otras tres que he dicho. | Were which I revealed this instant. | ||
Es la primera, que siendo | The first is; that he being prudent, | ||
prudente, cuerdo y benigno, | Careful, cautious, and benignant, | ||
810 | desmintiendo en todo al hado | Falsifying the wild actions | |
que dél tantas cosas dijo, | That of him had been predicted, | ||
gozaréis el natural | You′ll enjoy your natural prince, | ||
príncipe vuestro, que ha sido | He who has so long been living | ||
cortesano de unos montes, | Holding court amid these mountains, | ||
815 | y de sus fieras vecino. | With the wild beasts for his circle. | |
Es la segunda, que si él, | Then my next resource is this: | ||
soberbio, osado, atrevido | If he, daring, wild, and wicked, | ||
y crÜel, con rienda suelta | Proudly runs with loosened rein | ||
corre el campo de sus vicios, | O′er the broad plain of the vicious, | ||
820 | habré yo piadoso entonces | I will have fulfilled the duty | |
con mi obligación cumplido; | Of my natural love and pity; | ||
y luego en desposeerle | Then his righteous deposition | ||
haré como rey invicto, | Will but prove my royal firmness, | ||
siendo el volverle a la cárcel | Chastisement and not revenge | ||
825 | no crueldad, sino castigo. | Leading him once more to prison. | |
Es la tercera, que siendo | My third course is this: the Prince | ||
el príncipe como os digo, | Being what my words have pictured, | ||
por lo que os amo, vasallos, | From the love I owe you, vassals, | ||
os daré reyes más dignos | I will give you other princes | ||
830 | de la corona y el cetro, | Worthier of the crown and sceptre; | |
pues serán mis dos sobrinos; | Namely, my two sisters′ children, | ||
juntando en uno el derecho | Who their separate pretensions | ||
de los dos, y convenidos | Having happily commingled | ||
con la fe del matrimonio | By the holy bonds of marriage, | ||
835 | tendrán lo que han merecido. | Will then fill their fit position. | |
Esto como rey os mando, | This is what a king commands you, | ||
esto como padre os pido, | This is what a father bids you, | ||
esto como sabio os ruego, | This is what a sage entreats you, | ||
esto como anciano os digo; | This is what an old man wishes; | ||
840 | y si el Séneca español | And as Seneca, the Spaniard, | |
que era humilde esclavo, dijo, | Says, a king for all his riches | ||
de su república un rey, | Is but slave of his Republic, | ||
como esclavo os lo suplico. | This is what a slave petitions. | ||
ASTOLFO. | Si a mí el responder me toca, | Ast. If on me devolves the answer, | |
845 | como el que en efeto ha sido | As being in this weighty business | |
aquí el más interesado, | The most interested party, | ||
en nombre de todos digo | I, of all, express the opinion:--- | ||
que Segismundo parezca | Let Prince Sigismund appear; | ||
pues le basta ser tu hijo. | He′s thy son, that′s all-sufficient. | ||
850 | TODOS. | Danos al príncipe nuestro, | Todos. Give to us our natural prince, |
que ya por rey le pedimos. | We proclaim him king this instant! | ||
BASILIO. | Vasallos, esa fineza | Bas. Vassals, from my heart I thank you | |
os agradezco y estimo. | For this deference to my wishes:--- | ||
Acompañad a sus cuartos | Go, conduct to their apartments | ||
855 | a los dos atlantes míos, | These two columns of my kingdom, | |
que mañana le veréis. | On to-morrow you shall see him. | ||
TODOS. | ¡Viva el grande rey Basilio! | Todos. Live, long live great King Basilius! | |
(Entranse todos.)Antes que se entre el REY salen CLOTALDO,ROSAURA y CLARIN, y [CLOTALDO] detiene al REY. | [Exeunt all, accompanying Estrella and Astolfo; The King remains.]Clotaldo, Rosaura, Clarin , andBasilius. | ||
CLOTALDO. | ¿Podréte hablar? | Clo. May I speak to you, sire? | |
BASILIO. | ¡Oh Clotaldo, | Bas. Clotaldo, | |
tú seas muy bien venido! | You are always welcome with me. | ||
860 | CLOTALDO. | Aunque viniendo a tus pla[n]tas | Clo. Although coming to your feet |
es fuerza el haberlo sido, | Shows how freely I′m admitted, | ||
esta vez rompe, señor, | Still, your majesty, this once, | ||
el hado triste y esquivo, | Fate as mournful as malicious | ||
el privilegio a la ley, | Takes from privilege its due right, | ||
865 | y a la costumbre el estilo. | And from custom its permission. | |
BASILIO. | ¿Qué tienes? | Bas. What has happened? | |
CLOTALDO. | Una desdicha, | Clo. A misfortune, | |
señor, que me ha sucedido, | Sire, which has my heart afflicted | ||
cuando pudiera tenerla | At the moment when all joy | ||
por el mayor regocijo. | Should have overflown and filled it. | ||
BASILIO. | Prosigue. | Bas. Pray proceed. | |
870 | CLOTALDO. | Este bello joven, | Clo. This handsome youth here, |
osado o inadvertido, | Inadvertently, or driven | ||
entró en la torre, señor, | By his daring, pierced the tower, | ||
adonde al Príncipe ha visto, | And the Prince discovered in it. | ||
y es... | Nay. ... | ||
BASILIO. | No te aflijas, Clotaldo. | Bas. Clotaldo, be not troubled | |
875 | Si otro día hubiera sido, | At this act, which if committed | |
confieso que lo sintiera; | At another time had grieved me, | ||
pero ya el secreto he dicho, | But the secret so long hidden | ||
y no importa que él lo sepa, | Having myself told, his knowledge | ||
supuesto que yo lo digo. | Of the fact but matters little. | ||
880 | Vedme después porque tengo | See me presently, for I | |
muchas cosas que advertiros, | Much must speak upon this business, | ||
y muchas que hagáis por mí; | And for me you much must do | ||
que habéis de ser, os aviso, | For a part will be committed | ||
instrumento del mayor | To you in the strangest drama | ||
885 | suceso que el mundo ha visto; | That perhaps the world e′er witnessed. | |
y a esos presos, porque al fin | As for these, that you may know | ||
no presumáis que castigo | That I mean not your remissness | ||
descuidos vuestros, perdono. | To chastise, I grant their pardon. | ||
(Vase.) | [Exit. ] | ||
CLOTALDO. | ¡Vivas, gran señor, mil siglos! | Myriad ">years to my lord be given! (aside). | |
(Aparte.) | Heaven has sent a happier fate; | ||
890 | (Mejoró el cielo la suerte. | Since I need not now admit it, | |
Ya no diré que es mi hijo, | I′ll not say he is my son.--- | ||
pues que lo puedo excusar.) | Strangers who have wandered hither, | ||
Extranjeros peregrinos, | You are free. | ||
libres estáis. | Ros. I give your feet | ||
ROSAURA. | Tus pies beso | A thousand kisses. | |
mil veces. | |||
895 | CLARIN. | Y yo los viso | Cla. I say misses, |
que una letra más o menos | For a letter more or less | ||
no reparan dos amigos. | ′Twixt two friends is not considered. | ||
ROSAURA. | La vida, señor, me has dado; | Ros. You have given me life, my lord, | |
y pues a tu cuenta vivo, | And since by your act I′m living, | ||
900 | eternamente seré | I eternally will own me | |
esclavo tuyo. | As your slave. | ||
CLOTALDO. | No ha sido | Clo. The life I′ve given | |
vida la que yo te he dado, | Is not really your true life, | ||
porque un hombre bien nacido, | For a man by birth uplifted | ||
si está agraviado, no vive; | If he suffers an affront | ||
905 | y supuesto que has venido | Actually no longer liveth; | |
a vengarte de un agravio, | And supposing you have come here | ||
según tú propio me has dicho, | For revenge as you have hinted, | ||
no te he dado vida yo, | I have not then given you life, | ||
porque tú no la has traído; | Since you have not brought it with you, | ||
910 | que vida infame no es vida. | For no life disgraced is life.--- | |
ROSAURA. | (Aparte.) | [Aside. ] | |
(Bien con aquesto le animo.) | (This I say to arouse his spirit.) | ||
Confieso que no la tengo, | Ros. I confess I have it not, | ||
aunque de ti la recibo; | Though by you it has been given me; | ||
pero yo con la venganza | But revenge being wreaked, my honour | ||
915 | dejaré mi honor tan limpio, | I will leave so pure and limpid, | |
que pueda mi vida luego, | All its perils overcome, | ||
atropellando peligros, | That my life may then with fitness | ||
parecer dádiva tuya. | Seem to be a gift of yours. | ||
CLOTALDO. | Toma el acero bruñido | Clo. Take this burnished sword which hither | |
920 | que trujiste; que yo sé | You brought with you; for I know, | |
que él baste, en sangre teñido | To revenge you, ′tis sufficient, | ||
de tu enemigo, a vengarte; | In your enemy′s blood bathed red; | ||
porque acero que fue mío | For a sword that once was girded | ||
(digo este instante, este rato | Round me (I say this the while | ||
925 | que en mi poder le he tenido) | That to me it was committed), | |
sabrá vengarte. | Will know how to right you. | ||
ROSAURA. | En tu nombre | Ros. Thus | |
segunda vez me le ciño, | In your name once more I gird it, | ||
y en él juro mi venganza, | And on it my vengeance swear, | ||
aunque fuese mi enemigo | Though the enemy who afflicts me | ||
más poderoso. | Were more powerful. | ||
930 | CLOTALDO. | ¿Eslo mucho? | Clo. Is he so? |
ROSAURA. | Tanto que no te lo digo; | Ros. Yes; so powerful, I am hindered | |
no porque de tu prudencia | Saying who he is, not doubting | ||
mayores cosas no fío, | Even for greater things your wisdom | ||
sino porque no se vuelva | And calm prudence, but through fear | ||
935 | contra mí el favor que admiro | Lest against me your prized pity | |
en tu piedad. | Might be turned. | ||
CLOTALDO. | Antes fuera | Clo. ′Twill rather be, | |
ganarme a mí con decirlo; | By declaring it, more kindled; | ||
pues fuera cerrarme el paso | Otherwise you bar the passage | ||
de ayudar a tu enemigo. | ′Gainst your foe of my assistance.--- | ||
ROSAURA. | (Aparte.) | [Aside. ] | |
940 | (¡Oh, si supiera quién es!) | (Would that I but knew his name!) | |
Porque no pienses que estimo | Ros. Not to think I set so little | ||
tan poco esa confianza, | Value on such confidence, | ||
sabe que el contrario ha sido | Know my enemy and my victim | ||
no menos que Astolfo, duque | Is no less than Prince Astolfo, | ||
de Moscovia. | Duke of Muscovy. | ||
CLOTALDO. | (Aparte.) | (Aside) | |
(Mal resisto | Clo. Resistance | ||
945 | el dolor, porque es más grave | Badly can my grief supply | |
que fue imaginado, visto.) | Since ′tis heavier than I figured. | ||
Apuremos más el caso. | Let us sift the matter deeper.--- | ||
Si moscovita has nacido, | If a Muscovite by birth, then | ||
el que es natural señor | He who is your natural lord | ||
950 | mal agraviarte ha podido. | Could not ′gainst you have committed | |
Vuélvete a tu patria, pues, | Any wrong; reseek your country, | ||
y deja el ardiente brío | And abandon the wild impulse | ||
que te despeña. | That has driven you here. | ||
ROSAURA. | Yo sé | Ros. I know, | |
955 | que, aunque mi príncipe ha sido, | Though a prince, he has committed | |
pudo agraviarme. | ′Gainst me a great wrong. | ||
CLOTALDO. | No pudo, | Clo. He could not, | |
aunque pusiera, atrevido, | Even although your face was stricken | ||
la mano en tu rostro. | By his angry hand. (Oh, heavens!) | ||
ROSAURA. | (Aparte.) | [Aside.] | |
(¡Ay cielos!) | Ros. Mine′s a wrong more deep and bitter. | ||
Mayor fue el agravio mío. | |||
960 | CLOTALDO. | Dilo ya, pues que no puedes | Clo. Tell it, then; it cannot be |
decir más que yo imagino. | Worse than what my fancy pictures. | ||
ROSAURA. | Sí dijera; mas no sé | Ros. I will tell it; though I know not, | |
con qué respeto te miro, | With the respect your presence gives me, | ||
con qué afecto te venero, | With the affection you awaken, | ||
965 | con qué estimación te asisto, | With the esteem your worth elicits, | |
que no me atrevo a decirte | How with bold face here to tell you | ||
que es este exterior vestido | That this outer dress is simply | ||
enigma, pues no es de quien | An enigma, since it is not | ||
parece. Juzga advertido, | What it seems And from this hint, then, | ||
970 | si no soy lo que parezco, | If I′m not what I appear, | |
y Astolfo a casarse vino | And Astolfo with this princess | ||
con Estrella, si podrá | Comes to wed, judge how by him | ||
agraviarme. Harto te he dicho. | I was wronged: I′ve said sufficient. | ||
(Vanse ROSAURA y CLARIN.) | Exeunt Rosaura and Clarin. ] | ||
CLOTALDO. | ¡Escucha, aguarda, detente! | Clo. Listen! hear me! wait! oh, stay! | |
975 | ¿Qué confuso laberinto | What a labyrinthine thicket | |
es éste, donde no puede | Is all this, where reason gives | ||
hallar la razón el hilo? | Not a thread whereby to issue? | ||
Mi honor es el agraviado, | My own honour here is wronged, | ||
poderoso el enemigo, | Powerful is my foe′s position, | ||
980 | yo vasallo, ella mujer. | I a vassal, she a woman; | |
Descubra el cielo camino; | Heaven reveal some way in pity, | ||
aunque no sé si podrá, | Though I doubt it has the power; | ||
cuando en tan confuso abismo | When in such confused abysses, | ||
es todo el cielo un presagio, | Heaven is all one fearful presage, | ||
985 | y es todo el mundo un prodigio. | And the world itself a riddle. | |
FIN de La vida es sueño |