University of Virginia Library

SCENE THE THIRD.

Scipio, Masinissa, Numidian Soldiers at a distance.
Ma.
Here, oh Guludda, wait for me.—Prepared
I was not for this meeting.

Sci.
What, would'st thou
Avoid me? I am evermore thy Scipio:
Thou now in vain seekest thyself elsewhere;
I only can restore thee to thyself.

Ma.
I was bereft of reason on that day
In which I made with you a guilty traffic
Of life and honour for degrading chains.
But for this step perchance I yet may make
The due atonement; and 'twill be sublime.
Then wilt thou see that I have perfectly
Regain'd my reason.

Sci.
I've already told thee,
Thou may'st, oh Masinissa, yet destroy me:
But while I breathe thou art constrain'd to hear me.

Ma.
Time fails me now for this ...

Sci.
Time fails thee now!
But what dost thou expect? Thy stratagems
Divulged to me are all: clandestinely
Armed and accoutred, thy Numidians stand
Within their tents; thou hast resolved from hence
To rescue Syphax, and with him ...

Ma.
If thou
Already know'st so much; if the base arts
Of a tyrannical spy have so far urged thee,
That thou hast purchased those who would betray me
E'en 'mong my troops, to consummate thy task
Add force to stratagem, since thou canst boast
More soldiers than myself. Thou seest me
Always prepared to die; never to change.

Sci.
Thou wrongest Scipio, and he pardons thee.
Towards thee no other weapon will I use
Than that of truth; with that will I subdue thee.
Thy Sophonisba, who loves thee so much,
(Would'st thou believe it?) she herself erewhile
Fully revealed to me thy stratagems ...

Ma.
What do I hear? Oh heaven! ...

Sci.
I swear to thee,
Oh Masinissa, that I speak the truth.
Erewhile, by his express command, she was
Refused admittance to the tent of Syphax;
Hence, stung to agony by rage and grief,
All thy designs to me did she divulge.
But she divulged in vain: thou hast the power
Still, if thou wilt, to rescue her from hence.
Carthage in thee her champion may possess;
I interdict it not: the injury
On me alone will fall; on me alone,
Who, at one stroke, my fame, my friend shall lose.
But ah! may heaven avert, that finally
Greater calamities o'erwhelm thee not.

Ma.
She! ... Sophonisba! ... For thy sake betray
My interest! ... 'Tis incredible. From whence ...

Sci.
She, far superior to her destiny,
Intends to give thee other proofs of love.
To stern necessity the loftiest yield:
The last and desperate resolve of Syphax
Gives to her noble heart a strong incentive.

Ma.
What meanest thou by these ambiguous words? ...
Of what proof speakest thou? ... Of what resolve
Of Syphax? ...

Sci.
What! dost thou not know it? Scarce
Was Syphax in his tent arrived, than swift
As lightning, on the sword of the centurion,
That as a guard was station'd there, he rush'd;
The hilt he planted on the earth, and fell,
Collecting all his might, upon the blade ...

Ma.
Oh blest, thrice blest is he! Thus is he freed.
From execrable Rome ...

Sci.
With his last breath
He order'd that admission there should be
To Sophonisba forcibly denied.

Ma.
And she ... Ah, now I clearly comprehend
The horror of her state! But oh, too far
Is mine remote from Syphax' destiny!
Conquer'd by thee, by his own hand he fell:
I, not as yet subdued, would be destroyed
By a Roman sword, but by that sword in fight.

Sci.
Ah no! thou oughtest not like them to perish.
Rather than death, and worthier of thyself,
Sublimer fortitude thy life would shew.

Ma.
Live without her! ... I have not power to do it ...
Cannot I rescue her by any means? ...
I will yet see her only once more.

Sci.
Ah!
Assuredly her converse may avail,
More than I can avail, to re-excite
Its noble impulses within thy breast.—
Behold her; 'tis her wish to plant herself
Near to my tent. Before the eyes of Rome,
And in the presence of all Africa,
She wishes to fulfil each cruel duty.
Hear her; with her I leave thee: Scipio
In both of you confides; thou canst not bear
Her to surpass thee in sublimity.