The Fountain of Youth A Fantastic Tragedy in Five Acts. By Eugene Lee-Hamilton |
 |
|
 | I. |
| II. |
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. | SCENE IV. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
 | The Fountain of Youth |  |
SCENE IV.
(Cabin of Ponce de Leon.)Ponce de Leon
(alone).
At last the fixed complexion of the sky
Knows omens of a change; and well it may—
This is the twentieth day of the stagnation;
I was beginning in my soul to think
That this swift vessel, planted in foul brine,
Had stricken root, and was for ever tethered
To this one spot of sea. Oh, with what thirst
In these three weeks of waiting have I panted!
Not for the base, unvivifying water
For which the others yearned, but for the rills,
The trickling diamond of my constant thought
By day and night. Doth not each fretful hour
Of new delay and baffled expectation,
That trifles with the longing of my heart,
Add threads of silver to my grizzling beard?
Last night there was a change in the moon's cheek,
The catspaw nears, the wind will rise to-night,
And then we shall unfurl.
Knows omens of a change; and well it may—
This is the twentieth day of the stagnation;
I was beginning in my soul to think
That this swift vessel, planted in foul brine,
Had stricken root, and was for ever tethered
To this one spot of sea. Oh, with what thirst
In these three weeks of waiting have I panted!
Not for the base, unvivifying water
For which the others yearned, but for the rills,
The trickling diamond of my constant thought
By day and night. Doth not each fretful hour
Of new delay and baffled expectation,
55
Add threads of silver to my grizzling beard?
Last night there was a change in the moon's cheek,
The catspaw nears, the wind will rise to-night,
And then we shall unfurl.
Fernandez' ship?
My mind misgives me at its disappearance.
We parted company a month ago:
What if he were perchance to reach the goal
Before myself, and, landing first, to make
A private treaty with the immortal king?
I think him treacherous enough for that.
Come in, Agrippa!
(Enter
Agrippa.)My mind misgives me at its disappearance.
We parted company a month ago:
What if he were perchance to reach the goal
Before myself, and, landing first, to make
A private treaty with the immortal king?
I think him treacherous enough for that.
Come in, Agrippa!
Well, there is a change.
Agrippa.
I know there is. Have I not had my eyes
Hard fixed for half the night upon the moon
And on the faint, faint vapours that have formed
Upon the horizon? Yes, there is a change.
I have already given all the orders:
The men are ready, and within twelve hours
We shall unfurl the sails and turn the helm
Back on Hispaniola.
Ponce de Leon.
Hell and thunder!
What dost thou mean?
Agrippa.
I mean that there is water
Sufficient in the cisterns (and that barely)
To reach Hispaniola, but not half
The quantity of water that is needed
To reach our destination.
56
Say it slower;
Say it again; say I have heard thee wrong;
It cannot be, O God, it cannot be!
Say that thou didst not say to me ‘Turn back!’
Agrippa.
It is not I who say it, but the cisterns;
Come and inspect the water for yourself.
Ponce de Leon.
Back to Hispaniola for the want
For some few paltry gallons of fresh water!
It cannot be; I say it cannot be;
The thought is mad and monstrous. Why, it means
At least a year of wasted plan and effort:
What am I saying? Why, it means the death
Of the whole enterprise. For who would get
This mutinous crew to sail the sea again?
It cannot be; I say it cannot be:
It is a passing nightmare of thy dreaming,
And while I turn my back upon the goal,
Fernandez with my other ship will reach it,
And cheat me of the object of my life.
Agrippa.
There is no arguing with parching throats:
'Tis not by talking of the Fount of Youth
That you can quench a sailor's raging thirst.
Come and inspect the cisterns.
Ponce de Leon.
It may rain:
The gathering clouds are near.
57
I know these seas:
Have I not sailed them at this very season?
The wind is near, but not a drop of rain.
Ponce de Leon.
And to be cheated of the Fount of Founts,
Of that all-potent and ineffable draught,
For lack of some few gallons of such water
As any dog can lap in any street!
The thought will drive me mad. Rather than turn,
I will blow up the ship with all it holds,
And my own self.
Agrippa.
The thought is very kind;
But, as it happens that the crew and I
Have not such violent and engrained objection
To reach old age as you have, I must pray you
To put your powder to some other use
Than sending all to Heaven. I have told you
How matters stand; the case is very simple:
Compute the gallons and compute the mouths.
But there are ways of cutting Gordian knots,
Which only old adventurers of the sea
Like my own self can practise.
But, as it happens that the crew and I
Have not such violent and engrained objection
To reach old age as you have, I must pray you
To put your powder to some other use
Than sending all to Heaven. I have told you
How matters stand; the case is very simple:
Compute the gallons and compute the mouths.
But there are ways of cutting Gordian knots,
Which only old adventurers of the sea
Like my own self can practise.
And now listen.
What would you give me if, despite the cisterns,
I led you to the goal? Weigh well your answer.
What would you give me if, despite the cisterns,
I led you to the goal? Weigh well your answer.
Ponce de Leon.
All that I have and love, save mine own life.
58
Even the promise of your daughter's hand?
Ponce de Leon
(very slowly).
Yes, even that.
Agrippa.
Well, if you give me that,
And put me in possession for twelve hours
Of undisputed power on this vessel,
I take you to Bimini. Do you swear?
Ponce de Leon.
I swear it by the shrine of Compostella.
Agrippa.
We understand each other. I will leave you
To your own meditations for a little,
While I give orders.
[Exit Agrippa.
Ponce de Leon
(alone).
Is it a stagger that has left me dizzy,
Or is it only that my soul has stood
For half a score of black and icy minutes
A-shivering in the lobby of despair,
And still feels numb—and now that once again
I stand and warm me by the hearth of hope?
Why is it that I feel as if a part
Of my own self had been lopped off for ever?
O Youth Eternal, spirit that I serve,
Why hast thou asked me for my daughter's weal?
Why hast thou asked of me to break her heart?
Thou knowest that I can no more resist
The dazzling fascination of thy splendour
59
Around the perilous flame. O well thou knowest
That if thou needest victims for thy altar
It is not I, thy priest and devotee,
Who can refuse them. Have not other men,
In order to attain their baser goals
Of avarice, or ambition, to crush out
Love, conscience, mercy, happiness, health, and slumber
For a base god? And shall I dream that thou,
The ever-glorious and the ever-dazzling,
Will let me lave my wrinkles in thy Fount
At lesser price than that?
And must not she
Who is to share the incomparable boon
Consent to share its price? Must she not pay
In the red gold of happiness and peace,
She on whose cheek perennial youth will sit
For ever safe from ever-gnawing years?
Aye, she must pay her share. (Re-enter Agrippa.)
Already back?
What orders hast thou given in these five minutes
Of thine omnipotence?
Agrippa.
Now I will tell you.
For these two days the sailors have been watching
A phantom island on the faint horizon.
It is a thing of unsubstantial vapour,
A freak of light portending change of weather.
I have commanded thirty men in boats,
Under the charge of Florestan, the mate,
To leave the ship and to await us there.
60
What, in a phantom island! Art thou mad?
Agrippa.
Then, while they land upon it, we sail on.
The crew, diminished by so many men,
And put upon half-rations of fresh water,
Can reach Bimini safely.
Ponce de Leon.
But, good God!
Why, this is simply murder. What! Send out
In open boats upon this unsailed sea
These thirty men, to slowly die of thirst,
Or drink the maddening horror of the brine!
Agrippa.
If they but think sufficiently on sugar
The sea will not taste salt.
Ponce de Leon.
It cannot be,
I cannot let this monstrous thing be done.
Agrippa.
The thing is done already.
Ponce de Leon.
Christ of Heaven!
Agrippa.
The thing is done already: they have left,
And now are past recall. Did you not give me
The power of life and death upon this ship?
61
O Fount of Youth! what hast thou made me do!
Agrippa
(aside).
And so I turn his vanities to profit,
As I shall do a many times in future.
Upon the misty basis of his dreams
I will build up the structure of my house,
The solid edifice of real power.
While he is seeking for the Fount of Youth,
I will make mine the regions that we conquer.
He has a royal charter in his pocket;
But I, once made his son-in-law, shall be
The real viceroy, master of the substance,
Until such time as, feeling strength sufficient,
I shall deprive him even of the shadow.
Ponce de Leon.
O Fount! O Fount! What hast thou made me do?
| The Fountain of Youth | |