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Mary Stuart

Автор Фридрих Шиллер

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Дата написания1970-01-01

Язык книгиen

Возрастное ограничение12+

Жанры

зарубежная драматургия зарубежная классика зарубежная старинная литература литература 18 века пьесы и драматургия

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No iron-grate is proof against her wiles.

How do I know these bars are not filed through?

How that this floor, these walls, that seem so strong

Without, may not be hollow from within,

And let in felon treachery when I sleep?

Accursed office, that's intrusted to me,

To guard this cunning mother of all ill!

Fear scares me from my sleep; and in the night

I, like a troubled spirit, roam and try

The strength of every bolt, and put to proof

Each guard's fidelity:-I see, with fear,

The dawning of each morn, which may confirm

My apprehensions:-yet, thank God, there's hope

That all my fears will soon be at an end;

For rather would I at the gates of hell

Stand sentinel, and guard the devilish host

Of damned souls, than this deceitful queen.

KENNEDY.

Here comes the queen.

PAULET.

Christ's image in her hand.

Pride, and all worldly lusts within her heart.

SCENE II.

The same. Enter MARY, veiled, a crucifix in her hand.

KENNEDY (hastening toward her).

O gracious queen! they tread us under foot;

No end of tyranny and base oppression;

Each coming day heaps fresh indignities,

New sufferings on thy royal head.

MARY.

Be calm-

Say, what has happened?

KENNEDY.

See! thy cabinet

Is forced-thy papers-and thy only treasure,

Which with such pains we had secured, the last

Poor remnant of thy bridal ornaments

From France, is in his hands-naught now remains

Of royal state-thou art indeed bereft!

MARY.

Compose yourself, my Hannah! and believe me,

'Tis not these baubles that can make a queen-

Basely indeed they may behave to us,

But they cannot debase us. I have learned

To use myself to many a change in England;

I can support this too. Sir, you have taken

By force what I this very day designed

To have delivered to you. There's a letter

Amongst these papers for my royal sister

Of England. Pledge me, sir, your word of honor,

To give it to her majesty's own hands,

And not to the deceitful care of Burleigh.

PAULET.

I shall consider what is best to do.

MARY.

Sir, you shall know its import. In this letter

I beg a favor, a great favor of her,-

That she herself will give me audience,-she

Whom I have never seen. I have been summoned

Before a court of men, whom I can ne'er

Acknowledge as my peers-of men to whom

My heart denies its confidence. The queen

Is of my family, my rank, my sex;

To her alone-a sister, queen, and woman-

Can I unfold my heart.

PAULET.

Too oft, my lady,

Have you intrusted both your fate and honor

To men less worthy your esteem than these.

MARY.

I, in the letter, beg another favor,

And surely naught but inhumanity

Can here reject my prayer. These many years

Have I, in prison, missed the church's comfort,

The blessings of the sacraments-and she

Who robs me of my freedom and my crown,

Who seeks my very life, can never wish

To shut the gates of heaven upon my soul.

PAULET.

Whene'er you wish, the dean shall wait upon you.

MARY (interrupting him sharply).

Talk to me not of deans. I ask the aid

Of one of my own church-a Catholic priest.

PAULET.

[That is against the published laws of England.

MARY.

The laws of England are no rule for me.

I am not England's subject; I have ne'er

Consented to its laws, and will not bow

Before their cruel and despotic sway.

If 'tis your will, to the unheard-of rigor

Which I have borne, to add this new oppression,

I must submit to what your power ordains;

Yet will I raise my voice in loud complaints.]

I also wish a public notary,

And secretaries, to prepare my will-

My sorrows and my prison's wretchedness

Prey on my life-my days, I fear, are numbered-

I feel that I am near the gates of death.

PAULET.

These serious contemplations well become you.

MARY.

And know I then that some too ready hand

May not abridge this tedious work of sorrow?

I would indite my will and make disposal

Of what belongs tome.

PAULET.

This liberty

May be allowed to you, for England's queen

Will not enrich herself by plundering you.

MARY.

I have been parted from my faithful women,

And from my servants; tell me, where are they?

What is their fate? I can indeed dispense

At present with their service, but my heart

Will feel rejoiced to know these faithful ones

Are not exposed to suffering and to want!

PAULET.

Your servants have been cared for; [and again

You shall behold whate'er is taken from you

And all shall be restored in proper season.]

[Going.

MARY.

And will you leave my presence thus again,

And not relieve my fearful, anxious heart

From the fell torments of uncertainty?

Thanks to the vigilance of your hateful spies,

I am divided from the world; no voice

Can reach me through these prison-walls; my fate

Lies in the hands of those who wish my ruin.

A month of dread suspense is passed already

Since when the forty high commissioners

Surprised me in this castle, and erected,

With most unseemly haste, their dread tribunal;

They forced me, stunned, amazed, and unprepared,

Without an advocate, from memory,

Before their unexampled court, to answer

Their weighty charges, artfully arranged.

They came like ghosts,-like ghosts they disappeared,

And since that day all mouths are closed to me.

In vain I seek to construe from your looks

Which hath prevailed-my cause's innocence

And my friends' zeal-or my foes' cursed counsel.

Oh, break this silence! let me know the worst;

What have I still to fear, and what to hope.

PAULET.

Close your accounts with heaven.

MARY.

From heaven I hope

For mercy, sir; and from my earthly judges

I hope, and still expect, the strictest justice.

PAULET.

Justice, depend upon it, will be done you.

MARY.

Is the suit ended, sir?

PAULET.

I cannot tell.

MARY.

Am I condemned?

PAULET.

I cannot answer, lady.

MARY.

[Sir, a good work fears not the light of day.

PAULET.

The day will shine upon it, doubt it not.]

MARY.

Despatch is here the fashion. Is it meant

The murderer shall surprise me, like the judges?

PAULET.

Still entertain that thought and he will find you

Better prepared to meet your fate than they did.

MARY (after a pause).

Sir, nothing can surprise me which a court

Inspired by Burleigh's hate and Hatton's zeal,

Howe'er unjust, may venture to pronounce:

But I have yet to learn how far the queen

Will dare in execution of the sentence.

PAULET.

The sovereigns of England have no fear

But for their conscience and their parliament.

What justice hath decreed her fearless hand

Will execute before the assembled world.

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Mary Stuart

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SCENE II.

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