Section 9

maledictions fall and blast Thyself and lineage, to the last Of all thy kith and kin!

Herod. Another goblet! quick! and stir Pomegranate juice and drops of myrrh And calamus therein!

Soldiers (in the street). Give up thy child into our hands! It is King Herod who commands That he should thus be slain!

The Nurse Medusa. O monstrous men! What have ye done! It is King Herod's only son That ye have cleft in twain!

Herod. Ah, luckless day! What words of fear Are these that smite upon my ear With such a doleful sound! What torments rack my heart and head! Would I were dead! would I were dead, And buried in the ground!

      (_He falls down and writhes as though eaten by worms.
       Hell opens, and_ SATAN _and_ ASTAROTH _come forth,
       and drag him down._)

VII. JESUS AT PLAY WITH HIS SCHOOLMATES.

Jesus. The shower is over. Let us play, And make some sparrows out of clay, Down by the river's side.

Judas. See, how the stream has overflowed Its banks, and o'er the meadow road Is spreading far and wide!

      (_They draw water out of the river by channels, and
       form little pools_ JESUS _makes twelve sparrows of
       clay, and the other boys do the same._)

Jesus. Look! look! how prettily I make These little sparrows by the lake Bend down their necks and drink! Now will I make them sing and soar So far, they shall return no more Into this river's brink.

Judas. That canst thou not! They are but clay, They cannot sing, nor fly away Above the meadow lands!

Jesus. Fly, fly! ye sparrows! you are free! And while you live, remember me, Who made you with my hands.

      (_Here_ JESUS _shall clap his hands, and the sparrows
          shall fly away, chirruping._)

Judas. Thou art a sorcerer, I know; Oft has my mother told me so, I will not play with thee!

      (_He strikes_ JESUS _on the right side._)

Jesus. Ah, Judas! thou has smote my side, And when I shall be crucified, There shall I pierced be!

      (_Here_ JOSEPH _shall come in, and say:_)

Joseph. Ye wicked boys! why do ye play, And break the holy Sabbath day? What, think ye, will your mothers say To see you in such plight! In such a sweat and such a heat, With all that mud-upon your feet! There's not a beggar in the street Makes such a sorry sight!

VIII. THE VILLAGE SCHOOL.

The RABBI BEN ISRAEL, with a long beard, sitting on a high stool, with a rod in his hand.

Rabbi. I am the Rabbi Ben Israel, Throughout this village known full well, And, as my scholars all will tell, Learned in things divine; The Kabala and Talmud hoar Than all the prophets prize I more, For water is all Bible lore, But Mishna is strong wine.

My fame extends from West to East, And always, at the Purim feast, I am as drunk as any beast That wallows in his sty; The wine it so elateth me, That I no difference can see Between 「Accursed Haman be!「 And 「Blessed be Mordecai!「

Come hither, Judas Iscariot. Say, if thy lesson thou hast got From the Rabbinical Book or not. Why howl the dogs at night?

Judas. In the Rabbinical Book, it saith The dogs howl, when with icy breath Great Sammaël, the Angel of Death, Takes through the town his flight!

Rabbi. Well, boy! now say, if thou art wise, When the Angel of Death, who is full of eyes, Comes where a sick man dying lies, What doth he to the wight?

Judas. He stands beside him, dark and tall, Holding a sword, from which doth fall Into his mouth a drop of gall, And so he turneth white.

Rabbi. And now, my Judas, say to me What the great Voices Four may be, That quite across the world do flee, And are not heard by men?

Judas. The Voice of the Sun in heaven's dome, The Voice of the Murmuring of Rome, The Voice of a Soul that goeth home, And the Angel of the Rain!

Rabbi. Well have ye answered every one Now little Jesus, the carpenter's son, Let us see how thy task is done. Canst thou thy letters say?

Jesus. Aleph.

Rabbi. What next? Do not stop yet! Go on with all the alphabet. Come, Aleph, Beth; dost thou forget? Cock's soul! thou'dst rather play!

Jesus. What Aleph means I fain would know, Before I any farther go!

Rabbi. O, by Saint Peter! wouldst thou so? Come hither, boy, to me. And surely as the letter Jod Once cried aloud, and spake to God, So surely shalt thou feel this rod, And punished shalt thou be!

 (_Here_ RABBI BEN ISRAEL _shall lift up his rod to strike_
    JESUS, _and his right arm shall be paralyzed._)

IX. CROWNED WITH FLOWERS.

JESUS sitting among his playmates, crowned with flowers as their King.

Boys. We spread our garments on the ground' With fragrant flowers thy head is crowned, While like a guard we stand around, And hail thee as our King! Thou art the new King of the Jews! Nor let the passers-by refuse To bring that homage which men use To majesty to bring.

      (_Here a traveller shall go by, and the boys shall lay
          hold of his garments and say:_)

Boys. Come hither! and all reverence pay Unto our monarch, crowned to-day! Then go rejoicing on your way, In all prosperity!

Traveller. Hail to the King of Bethlehem, Who weareth in his diadem The yellow crocus for the gem Of his authority!

      (_He passes by; and others come in, bearing on a litter
          a sick child._)

Boys. Set down the litter and draw near! The King of Bethlehem is here! What ails the child, who seems to fear That we shall do him harm?

The Bearers. He climbed up to the robin's nest, And out there darted, from his rest, A serpent with a crimson crest, And stung him in the arm.

Jesus. Bring him to me, and let me feel The wounded place; my touch can heal The sting of serpents, and can steal The poison from the bite!

      (_He touches the wound, and the boy begins to cry._)

Cease to lament! I can foresee That thou hereafter known shalt be, Among the men who follow me, As Simon the Canaanite!

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                         EPILOGUE.

In the after part of the day Will be represented another play, Of the Passion of our Blessed Lord, Beginning directly after Nones! At the close of which we shall accord, By way of benison and reward, The sight of a holy Martyr's bones!

IV. THE ROAD HIRSCHAU.

PRINCE HENRY and ELSIE, with their attendants, on horseback.

Elsie. Onward and onward the highway runs to the distant city, impatiently bearing Tidings of human joy and disaster, of love and of hate, of doing and daring!

Prince Henry. This life of ours is a wild aeolian harp of many a joyous strain, But under them all there runs a loud perpetual wail, as of souls in pain.

Elsie. Faith alone can interpret life, and the heart that aches and bleeds with the stigma Of pain, alone bears the likeness of Christ, and can comprehend its dark enigma.

Prince Henry. Man is selfish, and seeketh pleasure with little care of what may betide; Else why am I travelling here beside thee, a demon that rides by an angel's side?

Elsie. All the hedges are white with dust, and the great dog under the creaking wain Hangs his head in the lazy heat, while onward the horses toil and strain

Prince Henry. Now they stop at the wayside inn, and the wagoner laughs with the landlord's daughter, While out of the dripping trough the horses distend their leathern sides with water.

Elsie. All through life there are wayside inns, where man may refresh his soul with love; Even the lowest may quench his thirst at rivulets fed by springs from above.

Prince Henry. Yonder, where rises the cross of stone, our journey along the highway ends, And over the fields, by a bridle path, down into the broad green valley descends.

Elsie. I am not sorry to leave behind the beaten road with its dust and heat; The air will be sweeter far, and the turf will be softer under our horses' feet.

      (_They turn down a green lane._)

Elsie. Sweet is the air with the budding haws, and the valley stretching for miles below Is white with blossoming cheery trees, as if just covered with lightest snow.

Prince Henry. Over our heads a white cascade is gleaming against the distant hill; We cannot hear it, nor see it move, but it hangs like a banner when winds are still.

Elsie. Damp and cool is this deep ravine, and cool the sound of the brook by our side! What is this castle that rises above us, and lords it over a land so wide?

Prince Henry. It is the home of the Counts of Calva; well have I known these scenes of old, Well I remember each tower and turret, remember the brooklet, the wood, and the wold.

Elsie. Hark! from the little village below us the bells of the church are ringing for rain! Priests and peasants in long procession come forth and kneel on the arid plain.

Prince Henry. They have not long to wait, for I see in the south uprising a little cloud, That before the sun shall be set will cover the sky above us as with a shroud.

      (_They pass on._)

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THE CONVENT OF HIRSCHAU IN THE BLACK FOREST.

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