Читать книгу Iphigenia in Tauris - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Страница 2

The king hath sent me hither, and commands

To hail Diana's priestess. This the day,

On which for new and wonderful success,

Tauris her goddess thanks. The king and host

Draw near, – I come to herald their approach.

We are prepar'd to give them worthy greeting;

Our goddess doth behold with gracious eye

The welcome sacrifice from Thoas' hand.

Oh, priestess, that thine eye more mildly beam'd, —

Thou much-rever'd one, – that I found thy glance,

O consecrated maid, more calm, more bright,

To all a happy omen! Still doth grief,

With gloom mysterious, shroud thy inner mind;

Still, still, through many a year we wait in vain

For one confiding utt'rance from thy breast.

Long as I've known thee in this holy place,

That look of thine hath ever made me shudder;

And, as with iron bands, thy soul remains

Lock'd in the deep recesses of thy breast.

As doth become the exile and the orphan.

Dost thou then here seem exil'd and an orphan?

Can foreign scenes our fatherland replace?

Thy fatherland is foreign now to thee.

Hence is it that my bleeding heart ne'er heals.

In early youth, when first my soul, in love,

Held father, mother, brethren fondly twin'd,

A group of tender germs, in union sweet,

We sprang in beauty from the parent stem,

And heavenward grew. An unrelenting curse

Then seiz'd and sever'd me from those I lov'd,

And wrench'd with iron grasp the beauteous bands.

It vanish'd then, the fairest charm of youth,

The simple gladness of life's early dawn;

Though sav'd, I was a shadow of myself,

And life's fresh joyance bloom'd in me no more.

If thus thou ever dost lament thy fate,

I must accuse thee of ingratitude.

Thanks have you ever.

Not the honest thanks

Which prompt the heart to offices of love;

The joyous glance, revealing to the host

A grateful spirit, with its lot content.

When thee a deep mysterious destiny

Brought to this sacred fane, long years ago.

To greet thee, as a treasure sent from heaven,

With reverence and affection, Thoas came.

Benign and friendly was this shore to thee,

Which had before each stranger's heart appall'd,

For, till thy coming, none e'er trod our realm

But fell, according to an ancient rite,

A bloody victim at Diana's shrine.

Freely to breathe alone is not to live.

Say, is it life, within this holy fane,

Like a poor ghost around its sepulchre

To linger out my days? Or call you that

A life of conscious happiness and joy,

When every hour, dream'd listlessly away,

Leads to those dark and melancholy days,

Which the sad troop of the departed spend

In self-forgetfulness on Lethe's shore?

A useless life is but an early death;

This, woman's lot, is eminently mine.

I can forgive, though I must needs deplore,

The noble pride which underrates itself

It robs thee of the happiness of life.

And hast thou, since thy coming here, done nought?

Who cheer'd the gloomy temper of the king?

Who hath with gentle eloquence annull'd,

From year to year, the usage of our sires,

By which, a victim at Diana's shrine,

Each stranger perish'd, thus from certain death

Sending so oft the rescued captive home?

Hath not Diana, harbouring no revenge

For this suspension of her bloody rites,

In richest measure heard thy gentle prayer?

On joyous pinions o'er the advancing host,

Doth not triumphant conquest proudly soar?

And feels not every one a happier lot,

Since Thoas, who so long hath guided us

With wisdom and with valour, sway'd by thee,

The joy of mild benignity approves,

Which leads him to relax the rigid claims

Of mute submission? Call thyself useless! Thou,

Thou, from whose being o'er a thousand hearts,

A healing balsam flows? when to a race.

To whom a god consign'd thee, thou dost prove

A fountain of perpetual happiness,

And from this dire inhospitable shore

Dost to the stranger grant a safe return?

The little done doth vanish to the mind,

Which forward sees how much remains to do.

Him dost thou praise, who underrates his deeds?

Who estimates his deeds is justly blam'd.

We blame alike, who proudly disregard

Their genuine merit, and who vainly prize

Their spurious worth too highly. Trust me, priestess,

And hearken to the counsel of a man

With honest zeal devoted to thy service:

When Thoas comes to-day to speak with thee,

Lend to his purpos'd words a gracious ear.

The well-intention'd counsel troubles me:

His offer studiously I've sought to shun.

Thy duty and thy interest calmly weigh.

Since the king lost his son, he trusts but few,

Nor those as formerly. Each noble's son

He views with jealous eye as his successor;

He dreads a solitary, helpless age,

Or rash rebellion, or untimely death.

A Scythian studies not the rules of speech,

And least of all the king. He who is used

To act and to command, knows not the art,

From far, with subtle tact, to guide discourse

Through many windings to its destin'd goal.

Do not embarrass him with shy reserve

And studied misconception: graciously,

And with submission, meet the royal wish.

Shall I then speed the doom that threatens me?

His gracious offer canst thou call a threat?

'Tis the most terrible of all to me.

For his affection grant him confidence.

If he will first redeem my soul from fear.

Why dost thou hide from him thy origin?

A priestess secrecy doth well become.

Nought to our monarch should a secret be;

And, though he doth not seek to fathom thine,

His noble nature feels, ay, deeply feels,

That studiously thou hid'st thyself from him.

Displeasure doth he harbour 'gainst me, then?

Almost it seems so. True, he speaks not of thee.

But casual words have taught me that the wish

To call thee his hath firmly seiz'd his soul;

Oh, do not leave the monarch to himself!

Lest his displeasure, rip'ning in his breast,

Should work thee woe, so with repentance thou

Too late my faithful counsel shalt recall.

How! doth the monarch purpose what no man

Of noble mind, who loves his honest name,

Whose bosom reverence for the gods restrains,

Would ever think of? Will he force employ

To tear me from this consecrated fane?

Then will I call the gods, and chiefly thee,

Diana, goddess resolute, to aid me;

Thyself a virgin, thou'lt a virgin shield,

And succour to thy priestess gladly yield.

Be tranquil! Passion, and youth's fiery blood

Impel not Thoas rashly to commit

A deed so lawless. In his present mood,

I fear from him another harsh resolve,

Which (for his soul is steadfast and unmov'd,)

He then will execute without delay.

Therefore I pray thee, canst thou grant no more,

At least be grateful – give thy confidence.

Oh tell me what is further known to thee.

Learn it from him. I see the king approach;

Thou honour'st him, and thy own heart will prompt thee

To meet him kindly and with confidence.

A noble man by woman's gentle word

May oft be led.

I see not how I can

Follow the counsel of my faithful friend.

But willingly the duty I perform

Of giving thanks for benefits receiv'd,

And much I wish that to the king my lips

With truth could utter what would please his ear.