Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (8 page)

FURIA. He, — round whom my thoughts
Course without rest?

CURIUS. My brain is in a tumult —
I hate this man — ! Oh, I could murder him!

FURIA. Did you not lately swear you were prepared
To do my bidding?

CURIUS. Ask me what you will;
In everything I serve you and obey!
I only beg, — forget this Catiline.

FURIA. I shall forget him first — when he has stepped
Into his grave.

CURIUS.
[Draws back.]
Ah, you demand that I — ?

FURIA. You need not use the steel; you can betray
His enterprise —

CURIUS. Murder and treachery
At once! Remember, Furia, he is still
My foster-father and —

FURIA. — My aim in life!
Ah, timid fool, — so you dare speak of love, —
Who lack the fortitude to strike him down
That stands across your path? Away from me!

[She turns her back on him.]

CURIUS.
[Holding her back.]
No; — do not leave me! I am in all things willing!
A shudder chills me as I look on you;
And yet I cannot break this net asunder
Wherein you trapped my soul.

FURIA. Then you are willing?

CURIUS. Why do you mock me with such questioning?
If I am willing? Have I any will?
Your gaze is like the serpent’s when ‘tis fixed
With magic power upon the bird, that circles
Wildly about in terror-stricken awe,
Drawn ever nearer to the dreadful fangs.

FURIA. Then to your task!

CURIUS. And when I’ve sacrificed
My friendship to my love for you, — what then?

FURIA. I shall forget that Catiline existed.
Then will my task be ended. Ask no more!

CURIUS. For this reward I should — ?

FURIA. You hesitate?
Is then your hope so faint that you forget
What gifts a grateful woman can bestow,
When first the time — ?

CURIUS. By all the powers of night, —
I’ll not delay! He only stands between us.
Then let him perish! Quenched is every spark
Of feeling for him; every bond is sundered! —
Who are you, lovely vision of the night?
Near you I’m turned to marble, burned to ashes.
My longing chills me, — terror fires the soul;
My love is blended hate and sorcery.
Who am I now? I know myself no more;
One thing I know; I am not he I was,
Ere you I saw. I’ll plunge into the deep
To follow you! Doomed — doomed is Catiline!
I’ll to the Capitol. This very night
The senate is assembled. Then farewell!
A written note betrays his enterprise.

[He goes out hastily.]

FURIA.
[To herself.]
The heavens grow dark; soon will the lightning play.
The end is fast approaching, Catiline; —
With measured steps you journey to your grave!

[The Allobrogian ambassadors, AMBIORIX and OLLOVICO, come out of the house without noticing FURIA, who stands half concealed in the shade between the trees.]

AMBIORIX. So then it is decided! Venturesome
It was to enter into such a compact.

OLLOVICO. True;
Yet their refusal of each righteous claim
Opens no other way to liberty.
The prize of victory, — should our friends succeed, —
Outweighs indeed the perils of the conflict
That now awaits us.

AMBIORIX. Brother, so it is!

OLLOVICO. Emancipation from the rule of Rome, —
Freedom long lost is surely worth a struggle.

AMBIORIX. Now we must hasten homeward with all speed,
Kindling through Gaul the flames of insurrection.
It will be easy to persuade the tribes
To ‘rise up in revolt; they’ll follow us
And join the partisans of Catiline.

OLLOVICO. Hard will the fight be; mighty still is Rome.

AMBIORIX. It must be risked. Come, Ollovico, come!

FURIA.
[Calls warningly to them.]
Woe unto you!

AMBIORIX.
[Startled.]
By all the gods!

OLLOVICO.
[Terrified.]
Ah, hear!
A voice cries warning to us in the dark!

FURIA. Woe to your people!

OLLOVICO. Yonder stands she, brother, —
The pale and ill-foreboding shadow. See!

FURIA. Woe unto all who follow Catiline!

AMBIORIX. Home, home! Away! We’ll break all promises!

OLLOVICO. A voice has warned us, and we shall obey.

[They go out hurriedly to the right.]

[CATILINE comes out of the house in the background.]

CATILINE. Ah, desperate hope — to think of crushing Rome
With such a host of cowards and poltroons!
What spurs them on? With frankness they confess —
Their only motive is their want and greed.
Is it then worth the trouble for such aims
To shed men’s blood? And what have I to win?
What can I gain?

FURIA.
[Invisible among the trees.]
Revenge, my Catiline!

CATILINE.
[Startled.]
Who speaks! Who wakes the spirit of revenge
From slumber? Came this voice then from the deep
Within my soul? Revenge? Yes, that’s the word, —
My watch-word and my battle-cry. Revenge!
Revenge for all the hopes and all the dreams
Which ever a vindictive fate destroyed!
Revenge for all my years of wasted life!

[The CONSPIRATORS come armed out of the house.]

LENTULUS. Still rest the shades of darkness on the city.
Now is it time to break away.

SEVERAL.
[Whispering.]
Away!

[AURELIA comes out of the side-building without noticing the
CONSPIRATORS.]

AURELIA. Beloved, — are you here?

CATILINE.
[With a cry.]
Aurelia!

AURELIA. Say, —
Have you been waiting for me?

[She becomes aware of the Conspirators and rushes to him.]

AURELIA. Gracious gods!

CATILINE.
[Thrusts her aside.]
Woman, away from me!

AURELIA. Speak, Catiline!
These many men in arms — ? And you as well — ?
Oh, you will go —

CATILINE.
[Wildly.]
Yes, by the spirits of night, —
A merry journey! See — this flashing sword!
It thirsts for blood! I go — to quench its thirst.

AURELIA. My hope, — my dream! Ah, blissful was my dream!
Thus am I wakened from my dreaming —

CATILINE. Silence!
Stay here, — or follow! But my heart is cold
To tears and lamentations. — Friends, behold
How bright the full moon in the west declines!
When next that full moon in its orient shines,
An avalanche of fire shall sweep the state
And all its golden glory terminate.
A thousand years from now, when it shall light
Mere crumbling ruins in the desert night, —
One pillar in the dust of yonder dome
Shall tell the weary wanderer: Here stood Rome!

[He rushes out to the right; all follow him.]

THIRD AC
T

[CATILINE’s camp in a wooded field in Etruria. To the right is seen CATILINE’s tent and close by it an old oak tree. A camp fire is burning outside the tent; similar fires are to be seen among the trees in the background. It is night. At intervals the moon breaks through the clouds.]

[STATILIUS lies stretched out asleep by the camp fire.
MANLIUS paces back and forth in front of the tent.]

MANLIUS. Such is the way of young and buoyant souls.
They slumber on as peaceful and secure
As though embosomed in their mothers’ arms,
Instead of in a forest wilderness.
They rest as though they dream some merry game
Were held in store for them when they awake,
Instead of battle, — the last one, perchance,
That will be theirs to fight.

STATILIUS.
[Awakes and rises.]
Still standing guard?
You must be weary? I’ll relieve you now.

MANLIUS. Go rest yourself instead. Youth needs his sleep;
His untamed passions tax his native strength.
‘Tis otherwise when once the hair turns gray,
When in our veins the blood flows lazily,
And age weighs heavily upon our shoulders.

STATILIUS. Yes, you are right. Thus I too shall in time,
An old and hardened warrior —

MANLIUS. Are you sure
The fates decreed you such a destiny?

STATILIUS. And pray, why not? Why all these apprehensions?
Has some misfortune chanced?

MANLIUS. You think no doubt
That we have naught to fear, foolhardy youth?

STATILIUS. Our troops are strongly reenforced —

MANLIUS. Indeed, —
With fugitive slaves and gladiators —

STATILIUS. Well, —
Grant that they are; together they may prove
No little aid, and all the tribes of Gaul
Will send us help —

MANLIUS. — Which has not yet arrived.

STATILIUS. You doubt that the Allobroges will keep
Their promised word?

MANLIUS. I know these people well
From days gone by. However, let that pass.
The day that dawns will doubtless bring to light
What destinies the gods have set for us.

MANLIUS. But go the rounds, my friend, and ascertain
If all the guards perform their proper tasks.
For we must fend against a night attack;
We know not where the enemy makes his stand.

[STATILIUS goes into the forest.]

MANLIUS.
[Alone by the camp fire.]
The clouds begin to gather thick and fast;
It is a dark and storm-presaging night; —
A misty fog hangs heavy on my breast,
As though foreboding mishap to us all.
Where is it now, that easy carefree spirit
With which in former times I went to war?
Ah, can it be the weight of years alone
That now I feel? Strange — strange, indeed, — last night
Even the young seemed sorely out of heart.

MANLIUS.
[After a pause.]
The gods shall know revenge was not the aim
For which I joined and followed Catiline.
My wrath flared up within me for a space
When first I felt I had been wronged, insulted; —
The old blood is not yet entirely cold;
Now and again it courses warmly through my veins.
But the humiliation is forgotten.
I followed Catiline for his own sake;
And I shall watch o’er him with zealous care.
Here stands he all alone amidst these hosts
Of paltry knaves and dissolute companions.
They cannot comprehend him, — he in turn
Is far too proud to wish to fathom them.

[He throws some branches on the fire and remains standing in silence. CATILINE comes out of the tent.]

CATILINE.
[To himself.]
Midnight approaches. Everything is hushed; —
Only to my poor eyes sleep fails to come.
Cold is the night wind; ‘twill refresh my soul
And give me strength anew — . I sorely need it!

[He becomes aware of MANLIUS.]

CATILINE. ‘Tis you, old Manlius? And do you stand guard
Alone on such a night?

MANLIUS. Oft have I stood
Guard over you in childhood’s early days.
Say, do you not recall?

CATILINE. Those days are gone;
With them, my peace; wherever now I go,
I’m haunted by a multitude of visions.
All things find shelter in my bosom, Manlius; —
Save peace alone. That — that is far away.

MANLIUS. Cast off these gloomy thoughts and take your rest!
Remember that the morrow may require
Your utmost strength for our deliverance.

CATILINE. I cannot rest. If I but close my eyes
One fleeting moment in forgetful slumber,
I’m tossed about in strange, fantastic dreams.
Here on my couch I lay now, half asleep,
When these same visions reappeared again,
More strange than ever, — more mysterious
And puzzling — . Ah, if I could only know
What this forebodes! But no —

MANLIUS. Confide your dream
To me. Perhaps I can expound its meaning.

CATILINE.
[After a pause.]
If I slept or if I waked, scarcely can I say;
Visions fast pursued each other in a mad array.
Soon a deepening twilight settles over everything;
And a night swoops down upon me on her wide-spread wing,
Terrible and dark, unpierced, save by the lightning’s flare;
I am in a grave-like dungeon, filled with clammy air.
Lofty is the ceiling and with thunderclouds o’ercast;
Multitudes of shadow forms go racing wildly past,
Whirl around in roaring eddies, as the ocean wave
Draws the raging storm and breaks against a rocky cave.
Yet amid this frenzied tumult children often come,
Decked in flowers, singing of a half-forgotten home.
Soon the darkness round them changes to a vivid glare, —
Dimly in the center I descry a lonely pair;
Ah, two women, — stern the one and gloomy as the night, —
And the other gentle, like the evening in its flight.
How familiar to my eyes the two lone figures seemed!
With her smiling countenance the one upon me beamed;
Like the zigzag lightning flashed the other’s piercing eye;
Terror seized my soul, — yet on I gazed in ecstasy.
Proudly upright stands the one, the other leans in weariness
On the solitary table, where they play a game of chess.
Pawns they barter, or they move them now from place to place; —
Then the game is lost and won, — she fades away in space, —
She who radiantly smiled, ah, she who lost the game;
Instantly the bands of children vanish whence they came.
Tumult rises; darkness deepens; but from out the night
Two eyes fix upon me, in a victor’s gloating right;
Then my brain reels; I see nothing but those baleful eyes.
But what else I dreamed of in that frenzied slumber lies
Far within me hidden, buried deep beyond recall.
Could I but remember. Gone forever is it all.

MANLIUS. Remarkable, indeed, my Catiline,
Is this your dream.

CATILINE.
[Meditating.]
If I could but remember —
But no; my memory fails me —

MANLIUS. Brood no longer
Upon these thoughts. For what are dreams, indeed,
But pale chimeras only, darkling visions,
On nothing founded, and by naught explained?

CATILINE. Yes, you are right; I will no longer brood; —
Already I am calm. But go your way;
You need some rest. The meanwhile I shall walk
In privacy and meditate my plans.

[MANLIUS goes into the forest.]

CATILINE.
[Paces for some time back and forth by the camp fire, which is about to go out; then he stops and speaks thoughtfully.]
If I could only — . Ah, it is unmanly To brood and be distressed by thoughts like these. And yet, — here in the stillness of the night, This lonely solitude, again I see Rising before me life-like all I dreamed.

[A SHADOW, attired like an old warrior in armor and toga, stems to rise from the earth among the trees a short distance from him.]

CATILINE.
[Recoils before THE SHADOW.]
Great powers of heaven — !

THE SHADOW. Greetings, Catiline!

CATILINE. What will you have? Who are you, pallid shade?

THE SHADOW. One moment! It is here my right to question, —
And you shall answer. Do you no longer know
This voice from ages long since passed away?

CATILINE. Methinks I do; yet certain I am not — .
But speak, whom seek you at this midnight hour?

THE SHADOW. ‘Tis you I seek. Know that this hour alone
Is granted me as respite here on earth.

CATILINE. By all the gods! Who are you? Speak!

THE SHADOW. Be calm!
Hither I come to call you to account.
Why do you envy me the peace of death?
Why do you drive me from my earthy dwelling?
Why do you mar my rest with memories,
That I must seek you, whisper menaces,
To guard the honor I so dearly bought?

CATILINE. Alas! this voice — ! Somehow I seem to know —

THE SHADOW. What is there left of my imperial power?
A shadow like myself; yes, scarcely that.
Both sank into the grave — and came to naught.
‘Twas dearly bought; dear, dear was it attained.
For it I sacrificed all peace in life,
And waived all claims to peace beyond the grave.
And now you come and want to wrest from me
With daring hands what little I have left.
Are there not paths enough to noble deeds?
Why must you choose the one that I have chosen?
I gave up everything in life to power;
My name — so dreamed I — should forever stand,
Not beaming like a star with friendly lustre, —
No, like a flash against the midnight sky!
I did not covet fame, the goal of hundreds,
For magnanimity and noble deeds;
Nor admiration; — far too many share
That fate already: so will many more
Until the end of time. Of blood and horror
I wished to build me my renown and fame.
With silent dread, as on some meteor
That now appears in mystery and is gone
Again, — men should gaze back upon my life,
And look askance on me, whom no one ever,
Before or since then, dared to emulate.
Yes, thus I dreamed and dreamed, — and was deceived.
Why did I not surmise, when you stood near me,
The secret thoughts then growing in your soul.
Yet, Catiline, beware; know that I see
Beyond the veil that hides from you the future.
Written among the stars — I read your fate!

CATILINE. You read my fate? Expound it then to me!

THE SHADOW. No, first beyond death’s gloomy gate
  Shall fade away the mists that hide
  The gruesome and the nobly great,
  Borne ever on by time and tide.
  This from thy book of fate alone
  A liberated soul may tell thee:
  Perish thou shalt by deed thine own,
  And yet a stranger’s hand shall fell thee.

[THE SHADOW glides away as in a mist.]

CATILINE.
[After a pause.]
Ah, he has vanished. Was it but a dream?
No, no; even here he stood; the moonbeams played
Upon his sallow visage. Yes, I knew him!
It was the man of blood, the old dictator,
Who sallied from his grave to frighten me.
He feared lest he should lose the victor’s crown, —
Not the reward of honor, but the terror
Whereby his memory lives. Are bloodless shades
Spurred onward also by the thought of glory?

[Paces to and fro uneasily.]

CATILINE. All things storm in upon me. Now Aurelia
In gentle admonition speaks, — and now
In me reëchoes Furia’s warning cry.
Nay, more than that; — out of the grave appear
The pallid shadows of a by-gone age.
They threaten me. I should now stop and pause?
I should turn back? No. I shall venture on
Unfaltering; — the victory soon is mine!

[CURIUS comes through the forest in great agitation.]

CURIUS. O Catiline — !

CATILINE.
[Surprised.]
What, you, — you here, my friend!

CURIUS. I had to —

CATILINE. Wherefore staid you not in town?

CURIUS. Fear prompted me; I had to seek you here.

CATILINE. You rush for my sake blindly into danger.
You thoughtless lad! Yet, come into my arms!

[Moves to embrace him.]

CURIUS.
[Draws back.]
No! Do not touch me! Do not even come near me!

CATILINE. What ails you, my dear Curius?

CURIUS. Up! Break camp!
Flee, if you can, even this very hour!
On every highway come the enemy troops;
Your camp is being surrounded.

CATILINE. Calm yourself;
You rave. Speak, has the journey shaken you — ?