University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

The King's Banquetting-Room.—Enter Phormio and Alastor.
PHORMIO.
Art thou assured the king has pardoned him?

ALASTOR.
Ay, he is bidden to the evening banquet;
And, sir, as thou'rt his friend, I do implore thee
Counsel him nevermore to criticize
The monarch's verses.

PHORMIO.
I shall venture much
To shield him from imprudence.

ALASTOR.
Fare thee well.

[Exit.
PHORMIO.
And yet I fear, in spite of chains and dungeons,
His thoughts will spurn disguise. The gods themselves
Could not extort the praise his heart denied;—
Will he then stoop to flatter Dionysius?

Enter Philoxenus.
PHILOXENUS.
What! do I see thee, Phormio, and alive?

PHORMIO.
Beware! thou'st found it somewhat hazardous
To sport with tigers counterfeiting tameness;—
A scratch, a look may rouse the bloody instinct
That marks thee for its prey—and so, be prudent.

PHILOXENUS.
I seek not this encounter. May the gods
Desert me when I fawn upon a tyrant!
My friend, I loathe hypocrisy.

PHORMIO.
Not less
Is my aversion to it; but, alas!
We all, in a degree, are hypocrites,—
Always deceiving others or ourselves.
Some thoughts concealed we not from our best friends,
They'd be our friends no longer;—looked we closely
To our own derelictions,—did we not,
With flattering fantasies and dear delusions,
Juggle our ready hearts,—we'd soon abhor
The life we cling to.

PHILOXENUS.
Phormio, thou hast studied
Among the Sophists, and canst aptly wield
The two-edged weapons of that specious school.
The king approaches.

PHORMIO.
Now let caution rule thee
In look and word.

PHILOXENUS.
I'll not forget myself.

Enter Dionysius, Alastor, Xanthe, Parasites, &c.
DIONYSIUS.
Philoxenus, sit here at our right hand,
And pledge us in this cup.

PHILOXENUS.
Most thankfully.

DIONYSIUS.
What news, Sir Poet, bring'st thou from the quarries?

PHILOXENUS.
Incredible, my liege! The headsmen languish
For want of occupation.

DIONYSIUS.
Ha! that's bitter.

PHILOXENUS.
The sunshine of the court shall sweeten me.

DIONYSIUS.
What if we had consigned thee to the block
For thy unmeasured rudeness?

PHILOXENUS.
There had been
One man the less in Syracuse, who dared
To speak the truth to all men at all times.

DIONYSIUS.
A prodigy at court, I do confess!
But, come: they tell me thou'st a taste proficient
In poetry and art; and here's a passage—
'Tis very brief—which above all I prize,
In my great poem. Read it.

PHILOXENUS,
(aside.)
Cruel fate!

PHORMIO,
(aside to Philoxenus.)
Now, if thou canst applaud not, pray be silent.
[Philoxenus reads in dumb show from a scroll which Dionysius hands him.
Beautiful! Is it not, Philoxenus?
(Aside,)
Say, Yes: that little word may make thy fortune.

DIONYSIUS.
Do those lines please thee? Speak, Philoxenus!
Now for thy frank opinion!

PHILOXENUS.
Are thy guards
Within there?

DIONYSIUS.
What, ho! guards!

[The Guards come forward.
PHILOXENUS,
(to the Guards.)
I pray you, lead me
Back to the quarries.

PHORMIO.
Now thou'rt lost, indeed.

FIRST PARASITE.
Seize the disloyal churl! He must not live
After such insolence.

SECOND PARASITE.
Death to the knave!
Torture and death!

XANTHE.
Ah, no, sirs! he's my father!
Urge not such desperate penalties.

ALASTOR.
The king,
Kind sirs, is still a king; he does not ask
Any of your dictation.

FIRST PARASITE.
By the gods,
I cannot quietly stand by and hear
My sovereign liege insulted, nor defend him.

DIONYSIUS.
Thy sovereign liege, fool! can defend himself.
Ye forward brawlers, leave the royal presence!
Leave Syracuse, forever! Are ye gone?
[Exeunt Parasites.
And now, Philoxenus, we must devise
Some punishment for thee, albeit I fear
Thou'rt quite incorrigible. Since the quarries
Have failed to make thee pliant, I must try
Severer measures. Xanthe and Alastor,
If tell-tale eyes speak truly, in your hearts
Already are ye wedded: lo, I join
Your hands in nuptial union! There's thy sentence,
Philoxenus!

PHILOXENUS.
Magnanimous avenger!
Great Dionysius! With surprise and joy
I'm all confounded! Why not always, thus,
With clemency o'erwhelm the offender's soul?
O, is not gratitude a sweeter draught
Than vengeance ever tasted?

DIONYSIUS.
Rise, my friends!
Athenian, rise! We would not have thee think
Mercy so rare a mood with Dionysius.
Now, for the banquet!—But, a moment, stay!
Philoxenus, in truth, canst thou discern
No merit in my “Ajax”? Can I write
Poetry, think you?

PHILOXENUS.
No. But thou canst act it;
And that is nobler.

DIONYSIUS.
Then am I content.