 | Salome : A Tragedy in One Act |  |
No; there is no wind.
HEROD
I tell you there is a wind that blows . . . . And I hear in the air something that is like the beating of wings, like the beating of vast wings. Do you not hear it?
HERODIAS
I hear nothing.
HEROD
I hear it no longer. But I heard it. It was the blowing of the wind. It has passed away. But no, I hear it again. Do you not hear it? It is just like a beating of wings.
HERODIAS
I tell you there is nothing. You are ill. Let us go within.
HEROD
I am not ill. It is your daughter who is sick to death. Never have I seen her so pale.
HERODIAS
I have told you not to look at her.
Pour me forth wine. [Wine is brought.]
Salome, come drink a little wine with me. I have here a wine that is exquisite.
Cæsar himself sent it me. Dip into it thy little red lips, that I may drain the cup.
SALOME
I am not thirsty, Tetrarch.
HEROD
You hear how she answers me, this daughter of yours?
HERODIAS
She does right. Why are you always gazing at her?
HEROD
Bring me ripe fruits. [Fruits are brought.]
Salome, come and eat fruits with me. I love to see in a fruit the mark of thy
little teeth. Bite but a little of this fruit, that I may eat what is left.
SALOME
I am not hungry, Tetrarch.
HEROD
[To Herodias]
You see how you have brought up this daughter of yours.
HERODIAS
My daughter and I come of a royal race. As
HEROD
Thou liest!
HERODIAS
Thou knowest well that it is true.
HEROD
Salome, come and sit next to me. I will give thee the throne of thy mother.
SALOME
I am not tired, Tetrarch.
HERODIAS
You see in what regard she holds you.
HEROD
Bring me — What is it that I desire? I forget. Ah! ah! I remember.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN
Behold the time is come! That which I foretold has come to pass. The day that I spake of is at hand.
HERODIAS
Bid him be silent. I will not listen to his voice. This man is for ever hurling insults against me.
He has said nothing against you. Besides, he is a very great prophet.
HERODIAS
I do not believe in prophets. Can a man tell what will come to pass? No man knows it. Also he is for ever insulting me. But I think you are afraid of him . . . . I know well that you are afraid of him.
HEROD
I am not afraid of him. I am afraid of no man.
HERODIAS
I tell you you are afraid of him. If you are not afraid of him why do you not deliver him to the Jews who for these six months past have been clamouring for him?
A JEW
Truly, my lord, it were better to deliver him into our hands.
HEROD
Enough on this subject. I have already given you my answer. I will not deliver him into your hands. He is a holy man. He is a man who has seen God.
A JEW
That cannot be. There is no man who hath seen God since the prophet Elias. He is the last man
ANOTHER JEW
Verily, no man knoweth if Elias the prophet did indeed see God. Peradventure it was but the shadow of God that he saw.
A THIRD JEW
God is at no time hidden. He showeth Himself at all times and in all places. God is in what is evil even as He is in what is good.
A FOURTH JEW
Thou shouldst not say that. It is a very dangerous doctrine. It is a doctrine that cometh from Alexandria, where men teach the philosophy of the Greeks. And the Greeks are Gentiles. They are not even circumcised.
FIFTH JEW
No man can tell how God worketh. His ways are very dark. It may be that the things which we call evil are good, and that the things which we call good are evil. There is no knowledge of anything. We can but bow our heads to His will, for God is very strong. He breaketh in pieces the strong together with the weak, for He regardeth not any man.
FIRST JEW
Thou speakest truly. Verily, God is terrible.
| Salome : A Tragedy in One Act | |