Читать книгу The Resources of Quinola: A Comedy in a Prologue and Five Acts - Оноре де'Бальзак, Honoré de Balzac, Balzac - Страница 16

The same persons, the King, the Queen, the Captain of the Guards, the

Grand Inquisitor, the Marchioness of Mondejar, the President of the

Council of Castile and the whole court.

Philip II. (to the Captain of the Guards)

Has our man arrived?

The Captain The Duke of Olmedo, whom I met on the palace steps, has at once obeyed the commands of the king.

The Duke of Olmedo (falling on one knee)

Will the king deign to pardon a delay – unpardonable?

Philip II. (raising him by his wounded arm) I was told you were dying – (he glances at the marchioness) – of a wound received in a nocturnal attack.

The Duke of Olmedo

Well, you see me here, sire, a sufficient answer.

The Marchioness (aside)

He is rouged!

Philip II. (to the duke)

Where is your prisoner?

The Duke of Olmedo (pointing to Fontanares)

Yonder he stands.

Fontanares (kneeling) And ready, to the great glory of God, to do wonders which shall add splendor to the reign of the king, my master.

Philip II. Rise up and speak to me; what is this force miraculous which shall give to Spain the empire of the world?

Fontanares It is a force invincible, sire. It is steam; for, when water has become expanded in steam, it demands a much more extensive area than that which it occupies in its natural form; and in order to take that space it would blow up mountains. By my invention this force is confined; the machine is provided with wheels, which beat the sea and propel a vessel as swiftly as the wind, so that tempests cannot resist its course. Voyages can be made in safety and so swiftly that there is no limit to speed excepting in the revolution of the wheels. Human life is lengthened every time a moment is economized. Sire, Christopher Columbus gave to you a world three thousand leagues across the ocean; I will bring one to you at the port of Cadiz, and you shall claim, with the assistance of God, the dominion of the sea.

The Queen

You do not seem to be astonished, sire?

Philip II.

Astonishment is involuntary flattery, and kings may never flatter. (To

Fontanares) What do you ask of me?

Fontanares That which Columbus asked, a ship and the presence of my king to witness the experiment.

Philip II. You shall have all – the king, the realm of Spain – the whole world. They tell me that you love a maid of Barcelona. I am about to cross the Pyrenees, to visit my possessions, Roussillon and Perpignan; you shall receive your vessel at Barcelona.

Fontanares In granting me this vessel, sire, you have done me justice; in giving it to me at Barcelona, you have bestowed a favor which, from a subject, makes me your slave.

Philip II. Yet be cautious; to lose a vessel of the state will be to risk your life, for so the law provides.

Fontanares

I know it, and accept the risk.

Philip II. Well said, brave man! If you succeed in constructing this sailless, oarless vessel that shall face the wind as swiftly as if the wind were in its favor, I will create you – what is your name?

Fontanares

Alfonso Fontanares.

Philip II.

You shall be Don Alfonso Fontanares, Duke of – Neptunado, Grandee of

Spain.

The Duke of Lerma

Sire, the statutes concerning nobility —

Philip II.

Silence! Duke of Lerma. It is the duty of the king to exalt the man of genius above all other men and thus to honor the ray of light which

God has given to him.

The Grand Inquisitor

Sire —

Philip II.

What would you?

The Grand Inquisitor We did not imprison the man on the charge that he had commerce with the devil, nor because of his impiety, nor because he springs from a family suspected of heresy; but for the safety of monarchies. Printing has permitted clever men to communicate their thoughts to others and the result has been – Luther, whose word has flown abroad in every direction. But this man is endeavoring to make out of all the nations of the earth a single people, and, before a multitude like this, the Holy Office trembles for the fate of monarchy.

Philip II.

All progress moves heavenward.

The Grand Inquisitor Heaven does not command many things which yet it does not hinder men from doing.

Philip II. Our duty consists in bringing good out of evil things and in this work of amelioration gathering all within one circle, whose centre is the throne. Do you not see what is here at stake, even the realization of that universal dominion long-sought for by my glorious father? (To Fontanares) When you have won the rank of duke and Spanish grandee of the first class, I will put upon your breast the Golden Fleece; you shall then be appointed Grand Master of Naval Construction in Spain and the Indies. (To a minister) President, you will issue, this very day, under pain of my displeasure, the order to put at the disposal of this man, in our port of Barcelona, such a vessel as he desires, and – see that no obstacle interferes with his enterprise.

Quinola

Sire —

Philip II.

What do you desire?

Quinola

While you are here, grant, sire, full pardon to a wretch named

Lavradi, who was sentenced by a deaf magistrate.

Philip II.

Because the judge was deaf, must the king be blind?

Quinola

No, but indulgent, sire, which is almost the same thing.

Fontanares Pardon! Grant pardon to the only man who has sustained me in my struggle!

Philip II. (to a minister) This man has talked with me, and I gave him my hand to kiss; issue to him letters of my full pardon.

The Queen (to the king) If this man (she points to Fontanares) is one of those great discoverers, raised up by God, Don Philip you have done a good day's work this morning.

Philip II. (to the queen) It is very difficult to distinguish between a man of genius and a madman; but if he is a madman, my promises are only worth the value of his.

Quinola (to the marchioness) Here is your letter, but let me beg you, between ourselves, to write no more.

The Marchioness

We are saved!

(The court follows the king into the royal apartment.)