 | The Africans ; or, War, Love, and Duty |  |
SCENE III.
—A Wood.—A rude shed is seen among the trees, R. U. E., which Darina's sons have formed as a temporary residence for their mother—a bank, R.Torribal comes forward from the shed, supporting Darina.
Tor.
Come, mother! this way—more into the air;
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Will hasten back to us, with nourishment.
Dar.
I'm not in pain; I think the worst is over:
For they have told me, and I feel 'tis true,
The famish'd never struggle at the last:—
Death spreads a gentle languor o'er their limbs,
And they expire in slumbers.
Tor.
Oh, mother!
Do not talk so; you cut me to the heart!
Rest upon the bank. Madiboo loiters.—
And as for Selico, I'd cast him off—
Dar.
Hold, Torribal!
No words of bitterness among my sons.
Tor.
He has neglected you.
Dar.
No, no!
Tor.
He has!
Dar.
He saw me here in safety.
Tor.
Saw you distress'd!
Then he left you—for five days has left you!
If e'er again I cross him—
[Passionately.
Dar.
Peace, I charge you!
I have woe enough!—Let me not hear
One of my children vilify the other.
Tor.
[Tenderly, and kneeling.]
Have I offended you?
Dar.
[Pressing his hand.]
You are too sudden.
Man, the commanding wonder of creation,
Has, like the insect, his allotted time
To do his task, and perish. Brief the span,
In which he reckons up these several claims
Parents, wife, children, sisters, brethren, friend—
And sometimes more, crowding at once upon him;
Besides the common social ties, that smooth
Life's road, and gently slope it to the grave.
Tor.
Ah! 'tis true—very true, my mother!
Dar.
Sure, then, no blame can fall on Selico,
Who helps to bear his mother from the war;
Then leaving both his brothers to protect her,
Hastes back to seek his bride, alive or murder'd.
Tor.
Hark! a footstep! [Looking off, L.]
Ha! 'tis he—'tis Selico!
[Darina rises.
Enter Selico, L.
Sel.
[Crossing to Darina, R.]
I am here again, to ask a blessing.
Can you forgive a wanderer?
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Forgive!
You had urgent and dear cause of absence.
You seem dejected;—tell me 'tis fatigue,
Not disappointment, that has made you thus.
Have you been prosperous?
Sel.
I left my brother,
Just at the outskirts of our ruin'd town,
Resolved to bring you food, if food were in it.
But I could find none.
Tor.
Could not? Chilling news!
Dar.
'Twas not on that account that I inquired
What has befall'n;—it was—
Sel.
[Distressed.]
I know;—I know.
Dar.
Tell me of—
Sel.
Our good priest?—and—and—
[Pauses.
Dar.
Berissa.
Sel.
[Much agitated.]
Mother, their fate is certain; no more now,—
Some other time I'll tell you.
Dar.
Selico,
You torture me! Their fate is certain!—Speak!
Have they escaped?
Sel.
Not so.
Tor.
Conceal'd within the town, then;
And, like ourselves, in want of sustenance.
Sel.
No, Torribal, not that.
Tor.
[Sorrowfully.]
Then they are—
[Hesitates.
Sel.
Ay;—
Brother, you faulter;—what then must I feel,
When I pronounce—they're butcher'd by the enemy!
[Darina turns aside, with her hands to her face, and totters to the bank.
Tor.
But are you sure of this?
Sel.
Certain! Fearing
I might shock my mother with a token,
Which, if display'd, would break the news at once,
Within the hollow of a tree. I hid,
Before I came in view, Farulho's mantle.
How I obtain'd it, let Madiboo inform you—
And spare my wounded feelings.
Tor.
Selico,
I fear that I have sometimes seem'd unkind;
Forgive me—'tis my nature to be rough;
But I—in short we never know how much
We love a friend, till he is in affliction.
[Embraces him.
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Mad.
Where is my mother? I've brought provisions!
Tor.
(C.)
Welcome, welcome!
Mad.
[Pushing by him.]
There's no time for welcome;
For here's the dinner waiting. But where is—
[Seeing Darina.
Oh! she's there! How fares it, mother?—Courage!—
See here! here is something to restore you.
Cheerly, mother!—Into the shed, and eat!
[Helps her from the bank.
Dar.
You'll all partake?
Mad.
Knowing there was enough,
I snack'd as I kept running on the road.
Tor.
The shed's small, let Selico go with you.
I'll wait, for he, I fear, has fasted longest.
Mad.
Now, Torribal, that's kind. Why, Selico!
[Selico, who, from the time of Madiboo's entrance, has appeared abstracted and lost in thought, starts and runs to Darina.
Sel.
I had forgot,—I—now, dearest mother!
Dar.
[Leaning on him.]
My poor, unhappy boy!
[Selico and Darina retire into the shed, R. U. E.
Mad.
Unhappy boy!
What did she mean by that?
Tor.
Why, she knows all—
Farulho and his daughter both are dead.
Mad.
Then Selico has told her;—that was wrong;
She's weak,—such news came too abruptly on her.
Tor.
Not as he utter'd it: he would have strangled
Affliction in his breast; she wrung it thence
By eager questions: first, he rear'd his head,
Loftly in sorrow, like an aspen struck
By thunderbolts!—till, trembling at her breath,
He whisper'd out his woe so mournfully,
That, were it not for shame, I could have wept
Worse than the softest wench in Africa.
Mad.
Don't think a tear too weak on strong occassions.
A sniveller's whimpering fills sorrow's puddles;
But when a firm man weeps, each drop's a diamond.
Tor.
I fear calamity will pinch us harder,
Before we find another settlement.
Mad.
It will, unless we hit upon something,
And suddenly.
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Ay, but what?
Mad.
I know not.
But this I know—there's nothing in the town
That's worth a second venture; and where else
Is there a chance?
Tor.
No where; and we must starve.
Mad.
Not if we can help it; still we'll struggle.
Tor.
I see no struggle we can have, but one;
We must sit down by our poor mother's side,
And see her die before us.
Mad.
Here comes Selico.
Let us consult with him how to proceed.
Re-enter Selico, from the shed, R. U. E.
Sel.
Our mother sleeps: food, after fainful fasting,
Has lull'd her to repose.
Mad.
Come hither, then.
This meal, which the poor white man gave to me,
Has saved her life; but fortune will not send
The white man every day. Have you reflected
About a fresh supply, when this is gone?
Sel.
I dread to think on't!
Mad.
That's worse than folly.
Our inactivity is certain death
To our dear mother, and to all of us.
Tor.
Something must be done.
Sel.
Ay, but what? name it!
Mad.
Yes, there's the point that sorely puzzles us.
For now we are girded by the enemy;
And we have neither weapons of attack,
Nor instruments, to gain a livelihood
By hunt or tillage. In a little time,
The winter rains set in; and should that season
O'ertake us here, before the stock's laid up,
There's nothing but a miracle can save us.
Tor.
Suppose their camp should break up shortly,
'Twould leave us ranging room.
Mad.
Suppose a dinner,
A day too late, popp'd under dead men's noses!
Tor.
The camp must soon disperse.
Mad.
Not yet awhile.
There's business that will take at least ten days—
The English merchants are invited up
To buy the prisoners.
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[Quickly.]
Is that certain?
Mad.
To-day they are expected in the camp.
Sel.
To-morrow then my mother shall be rich!
Tor.
How, Selico?
Sel.
I'll be a slave—sell me!
The money will preserve my mother's life!
She shall have all—all this body's value.
So may the trader then become humane,
By purchasing a son, to save a mother!
Mad.
That son shall be myself!
Sel.
No!
Tor.
Hold a little!
'Tis true the purchase money would produce us
A stock of all we want; and one of us
Must be the sacrifice! Let us decide
By lot who shall be sold.
Sel.
No, my brother;
Mine is already cast—for more unhappy
I cannot be,—my early hope is gone!
I breathed in the soft spring of my desire,
Upon the sweetest violet that ever
Disclosed its fragrant loveliness to Heaven!
Untimely tempest nipp'd the modest flower,
And the world's garden is, to me, a desert.
Mad.
This must not be!
Sel.
It must,—and you shall lead
Me to the camp! 'Twill not be difficult
To mingle in the crowd, and some merchant
Find, willing to strike the bargain.
Mad.
Horrid!
You make my blood run cold—I cannot do it!
What! sell my brother?
Sel.
To save your parent.
Had we agreed, as Torribal proposed,
Still one had done this office for the other.
Tor.
Then let it be my lot.
Sel.
I'll not consent.
You two are heart-whole; wretched as I am,
I should be useless here. [To Madiboo.]
Come with me, now—
Or, by our prophet! I will seek the camp
Alone, and having found a purchaser,
Trust to some chance to send you back the money.
Hark! there's our mother stirring—we must part!
Say we go out to forage.
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Torribal, what can I do?
Tor.
[Mournfully.]
It must be as he says.
Sel.
Let me embrace her for the last, last time,
And leave her, then, for ever!
Mad.
I shall choke!
Darina appears at the opening of the shed, R. U. E.
Dar.
Torribal, how you stay! you must be faint;
Pr'ythee, come in and eat.
Tor.
I come, directly.
Sel.
And we, dear mother, now must leave you.
Dar.
[Coming forward.]
Leave me!—so soon, my son?
Sel.
Yes, to seek more food.
I must say farewell!
Dar.
Must say farewell?
There's a something in that word that makes
My heart feel heavy.
Sel.
[Apart to Torribal.]
Adieu, my dear brother!
May you long live happy!
[Presses his hands—then turns to Darina.
One kiss,—still one.
May Heaven shield and bless you, mother! Now
I am ready.—Onwards, Madiboo! onwards!
[Exeunt, Selico and Madiboo, hurriedly, L., Torribal and Darina, sorrowfully, into the shed, R. U. E.
| The Africans ; or, War, Love, and Duty | |