 | Don Garcia |  |
SCENE THE FOURTH.
Diego, Cosmo, Piero.Cos.
My son, what would'st thou? Justice? Thou shalt have it.
Di.
Father, what ails thee? On thy austere brow
Sits dark displeasure. Perhaps our strife hath wrought
Disturbance in thee? It had been, Piero,
Better indeed for us to have hid it from him:
And what? Fear'st thou that for my brother's insult
Anger in me all limits would transgress?
Ah, let my father think no more of it;
Nor let it raise in him resentful feelings.
Esteem me not offended; I alone
Pity th'offender: this is my revenge.
23
Oh, thou art worthy of a better brother
Than Garcia is! Fraternal injuries
Thou dost endure; and it becomes thee well:
But that he has infringed my laws, that he
Erewhile contended with thee, this is not
The first sole cause of my profound displeasure.
His turbulence, I clearly see, springs not
From the impetuosity of youth;
'Tis the worse fruit of a malignant heart:
I am compell'd e'en to the fountain head
Of the mortiferous pestilence to go;
I am compell'd t'investigate the whole,
The whole to hear. Imperiously it behoves me
To know the deeds, th'affections, and the words,
The enterprises, e'en the secret thoughts,
Of one, a royal youth, who, more than others,
Has power to injure, and may fear it less.
Di.
Yet do not now ascribe to guilt in him,
I pray thee, that which erewhile, when incensed,
He said to me.
Pi.
Thou seest clearly, father,
If Garcia had a corresponding soul,
Peace would be permanent betwixt them both;
Nor doth Diego feign ...
Di.
Nor hitherto
Have I suspected that my brother feign'd,
Or was malignant. No, my father, no;
Although he differ from me, I perceive
The seeds of virtue in him; I esteem him
A little from the path of rectitude
Unconsciously misled: he cherishes
Private affections in his princely nature;
Hence are those phrases which appear so strange;
24
And hence th'injurious lofty pomp with which
He preaches to us his ascetic virtues.
I first, inflamed with anger, in thy presence,
Calling him hypocritical and false,
Presumed to assault him: to a lofty heart
Th'indignity was insupportable;
And scarcely was in me my wrath appeased,
Ere I repented of it. I come here,
In the first place, expressly to recant;
And inasmuch as my officiousness
May have excited prejudice in thee
Against thy son, to abrogate at once
Impressions sinister, as they are false.
Cos.
Garcia assuredly is less a traitor,
Than thou magnanimous.
Di.
We are thy sons ...
Cos.
Thou art indeed: Piero and thyself.
Pi.
At least, I prize myself in thinking so.
Di.
Ah! do not deem thy other son yet lost:
I do beseech thee, to thyself, and us,
Reclaim him, father; but with gentle treatment.
Advice, far more than force, will operate
On his tenacious heart; and never shew him
That, less than us, thou lovest him.
Cos.
My sons,
Enough, enough. Withdraw: I will indulge you.
Ere long to me, Piero, thou send here
Thy brother Garcia; I will speak to him.
Nor do I less commend in thee, Piero,
The strict solicitude, than in Diego
The sublime magnanimity of heart.
| Don Garcia | |