 | The Siege of Cuzco |  |
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ACT III.
SCENE I.
Pizarro's Tent. Pizarro at Council, Alvarados, Benalcazar, Pedro de Candia, and other Spanish Chiefs.Piz.
Let none despair. Time was, fame-honour'd chiefs!
When by pale fear, and woe, and want encircled,
On a lone island, near this coast, I drew
Thus, with my sword, a line. “Behold,” I said,
“On this side danger and immortal glory:
“There, safety and dishonour.”—Blush, Castille!
All, all but thirteen warriors left Pizarro.
There the heav'n-destined conquerors of Peru
Lay hid. Month after month, our only food,
Roots, berries of the cliff; whatever crawl'd
O'er earth, loathsome to touch; lizards and snakes
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And sea-things borne on the white swell of the tide
That surged our storm-beat cavern. So we lived,
And glory knew us not. But when our foot
Once trod upon this coast, our second step
Was on the neck of monarchs.
Alva.
Lead us forth.
Victory or death.
Piz.
Brave chiefs! I stand not here
As some proud lord 'mid hireling slaves, that dread
The frown of a menacing brow: nor meet ye here,
Mere instruments of war, blindly to work
Where reason gives no warrant. The firm tye
That man to man connects, in courts or camps,
Soldier or citizen, is confidence:
When each, fit judge of that which he supports,
Says, “Justice bids it.” Friends! be that the bond
Which rivets us.
Benal.
We do not doubt your claims:
Our swords shall prove them.
Piz.
Such the voice of honour.
But not a drop of blood shall now be shed,
That shall reproach Pizarro. Bring in Garcia.
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Ye see Almagro's herald. Spread the map.
Judge ye between Almagro's claims, and mine.
(Garcia spreads a map before them.)
Gar.
Almagro's claims are just. Your chiefs shall own it.
Piz.
The Emperor (heav'n guard his sacred life!)
In recompence of my poor services,
But far beyond my merits, has assign'd me
Within this realm, that our good swords have conquer'd,
Three hundred leagues of land; from this point, southward,
This equinoctial line. Where my rule ends,
Begins Almagro's. Here. An hundred leagues.
Look o'er the tract.
Can.
No barren spot.
Gar.
We grant
Full rich the soil.
Piz.
Peopled with busy hamlets,
Where cheerful industry out-toils the sun.
Pasture and tilth, dark woods, and silver lakes.
See o'er these gentle swells the cotton grows,
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Flat as an ocean, in the golden season,
(And here each month is summer,) float with maize.
These streams, when tumbling torrents wear the rocks,
Are golden-sanded, and what eye has seen
The ingots that inlay these mountain veins?
Can.
A goodly realm.
Piz.
Yet, in Almagro's sight,
This rich domain, this earthly paradise,
Because imperial Cuzco tow'rs not in it,
Seems like a hillock which the blind mole works
In his way to upper air.
Gar.
Imperial Cuzco
Is what we justly claim. The Emperor's grant
To brave Almagro—need I speak its value?
The natives of this realm, with holy zeal
Adore it as the city of a God,
Not built by mortal hands, nor ruled by men.
From thence all honour flows, and to its crown
The kings do homage.
Piz.
Nor for that alone
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We best can rate its worth;
We whose inglorious swords the rust has gnaw'd,
While we have idly loier'd at its base.
But to the point. Comrades in arms! receive
Your recompence, my gift: to every chief
Ten leagues: each after each, an equal share.
(Gives him a pair of compasses.)
Here, Pedro, mete them out. We know thy skill.
Observe him, Herald.
Can.
There.
Piz.
'Tis fairly done.
I am no scholar, Sir. This hand did grasp
A sword in my tender age. But I can spy
Keen as the letter'd gownsman, on this chart
What's straight, and what is not.
Gar.
We do not doubt you.
Piz.
Now mark how good Almagro portions out
My just allotment. Not in fair degrees,
As on a level map we lay out land
From point to point. Not as thy compass spann'd
(to Candia)
Impartially. But still he winds and crooks them,
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There's not a stretch of cape, head-land, or rock
That buts the tide, deep gulf, or yawning bay,
But he has inch'd them all: and so sums up
Their turns and inequalities, to rob me
Of Cuzco, and its fair dependencies.
Ye are impartial men; judge ye between us.
And as ye measure mine, teach me to mete
Your several shares.
Can.
Oh, 'tis plain robbery. Look,
From Palmo's island round St. Francis' cape,
The doubling of the land eats up the space
More than its half.
Herald.
What answer make you, Sir?
Piz.
Hence with your capes and bays, and nameless bounds.
Herald.
The sword must end the contest.
Piz.
Thou say'st well.
Go tell Almagro, as this weapon cleaves
My foe in fight, direct,
Thus conquerors mete out empires.
[Herald exit.
(Juan enters.)
Juan.
The stern Inca
Contemns Gulaxa.
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Bring him now before us.
Your well-weigh'd voice (to his Council)
, (I am but one among you)
Shall fix his doom.
Alva.
At least we shall behold him.
I long to eye him. Since that well-fought battle
When singly he assail'd me, as I slew
His routed host, I ne'er have seen that warrior.
You still refused me.
Piz.
I had ever hope
So to have sway'd him, that his soul had bow'd
Submissive to your will. My threats avail'd not.
Yet I have witness'd men who boldly braved it
Before a single front, turn pale at sight
Of chiefs in council.
'Tis not the gale, tho' strong, which one way blows,
That wrecks the ship: but when the war of winds
From opposite quarters drives her to and fro,
Then the pale steersman hopeless quits the helm.
Pedro de Candia, thou shalt question him.
Can.
I pray excuse me, Sir. A sudden shudder,
Caught from the clime, and watching in your cause,
Has seized me.
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Go not hence: thy glance, keen Pedro,
Can pierce beneath the surface, and thy speech
Draw out the soul with bait of artful words.
Here comes the man.
(As he is going out, Zamorin enters.)
Can.
Pray pardon me.
Zam.
That voice!—
I cannot err. 'Twas his who tempted me.
Can.
I know him not. Dismiss this man, Lord Marquis.
This will but breed dissension 'mong thy friends.
Zam.
I ne'er beheld thy face. The vizor hid it.
But in my tent, at the dim close of eve,
One, such as thou, in form and voice, oft lured me,
Pealing Almagro's praise. This recks me not.
Spaniards! behold your hostage.
Can.
Tell me, chieftain!
Rate you a base Peruvian's word like mine?
Piz.
Oh, I have faith in thee. Behold this gem:
'Twas King Ataliba's; he died, and left us
Heirs to his wealth. Take it, and charge it down
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As a memorial that Pizarro knew
Thy worth, nor lightly honour'd it. No more
Of these slight bickerings.
Ben.
(to Zamorin, who during this speech had unclasped a bracelet from his arm and crushed each separate link)
Why thus, link by link,
Unclasp that bracelet? We are not so charm'd
By every glittering toy, that we had stript thee
Of that poor ornament.
Zam.
To dust, to dust.
Ben.
Why dost thou tread that bauble under foot?
Zam.
I'll answer thee, when it is crush'd to atoms.
Say, (to Pizarro)
have I leave to speak?
Piz.
We Spaniards, Inca,
Do not condemn our prisoners unheard.
Zam.
Man, man, thou mock'st me. Look where thou art throned:
Lo! where I stand. And hast thou heart to mock me?
Alv.
Thou shalt have patient hearing.
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We attend.
Zam.
Thou question'st me of that which may have weight
Ere ye pronounce my doom. Therefore I answer.
It ever hath been custom with our kings,
From great Huana Capac, our first monarch,
The offspring of the sun, when they select
A leader of their forces, round his arm
To bind the chain that in the hour of peace
Circles their neck. That chain, not linkt by hands
Of earthly mold, so sacred is it held,
That he who wears it, speaks, and is obey'd,
Like one from heav'n. No eye shall see it more.
(Looking down.)
'Tis crush'd to atoms.
Ben.
Wherefore?
Zam.
I received it
From good Huascar, on the very night
He perish'd, by the fell usurper slain,
Sent by Ataliba, whom you did murder.
(The Council in great agitation.)
Can.
To torture with him.
Zam.
Whence this sudden rage?
Can.
Away with him.
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In what have I offended?
Or can ye not in patience hear the deed,
That ye had heart to act?
Alv.
Hear, hear him, comrades!
Peace, Candia!
The language of plain truth, howe'er it gall me,
Is not unwelcome to a soldier's ear.
On with your speech. Ye shall not interrupt him.
Zam.
Ere I came forth your hostage, not your prisoner,
I charged Villoma to refuse all terms
If by that chain unvouch'd. For I had heard
That ye had instruments of hellish pow'r
To force the tongue to utterance: now to feign
What the soul knew was false, and now deny
The truth, that is our birth-right from above.
I never shrunk, as these deep scars may witness,
From wounds in war, but what ye might inflict
When cool the blood, I knew not: this I know,
That man is frail, and that the heart here bosom'd
Is form'd like man's.
Can.
Then, Indian! bid yon fort
Instantly yield, or the keen rack shall goad
Your quivering limbs.
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For that I came prepared.
And what the tongue may rave when nature groans
In madd'ning torture, now has no avail.
The chain is crush'd.
(A shout from without.)
Almagro: young Almagro.
(Almagro enters, with Orgognez, Herrada, Garcia, and followers.)
Piz.
Art thou a spirit risen from the dead
To haunt me at mid-day?
Alm.
None from the dead.
Herrada! stay with me. Go, trusty herald!
Haste to my sire, relate what here has past.
Orgognez! ere three hours have wing'd their flight,
Lead on my chosen squadrons, flow'r of our host,
To storm this camp, if yet Pizarro braves us.
Are these the chiefs, (to Pizarro's Council)
whom terror chain'd to earth,
When o'er the fosse I sprung, and scaled the rock?
And slept your swords when one of Spanish blood
Sunk in your sight?
Alv.
The sword and lance were powerless
Against that fort, where our good cannon fail'd.
But when I saw thee 'mid surrounding foes
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Heard on his back his iron harness ring.
Methought in each old scar the whizzing shaft
Sunk, as when first it pierced me.
Alm.
Hear, Pizarro!
Dismiss thy chiefs. Let us confer in secret.
(As the chiefs are departing, Candia endeavours to make Almagro notice him.)
Piz.
Pedro!
Alm.
(to Pedro de Candia)
What would'st thou, Sir?
Can.
Remember Candia:
He is indebted to thee. Chief! command me.
(The chiefs depart.)
Piz.
Retire a while, my friends.
Alm.
Is this the hostage?
Zam.
You see Zamorin.
Alm.
Go not hence, brave man!
Thro' me, thy Zama greets thee.
Zam.
Name her not.
The very sound unmans me. Zama, Zama!
Oh may'st thou never hear what I have borne.
Alm.
Pizarro!
Tho' thy malignant hate has nipt in its bloom
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Tho' thou resist my sire's just claims, and mock
The Emperor's sacred signet—
Piz.
Heav'n forefend!
Alm.
Yet we may meet on terms, and in that hope
Before thy warriors I reproach'd thee not;
But face to face here breathe my just rebuke.
Yet know I to forgive, and, once atoned,
Remember not the offence.
Piz.
Then we are friends.
Brave youth! Oh would thou wert a son of mine!
That these fond arms might fold thee! blest Almagro!
Thy fame shall never die! but from thy root
Spring up, and flourish fair, and gather strength
Thro' this thy son. But when some stranger hand
Has closed my vault, none, none on earth shall rise
To grace my name. Oblivion's noiseless wings
Shall, as they sweep along the untrodden aisles
Where low I lie, strike from the trophy'd vault
My banners down, and turn them to the dust
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So shall I sleep forgotten with the dead
As one who ne'er had been. Oh, name the terms.
Alm.
First, free this hostage.
Zam.
Dost thou know Zamorin?
Spaniard! art thou aware of thy demand?
Fair friendship's sacred league can ne'er unite us.
Ye have laid waste my country. I revenged.
Piz.
Now art thou answer'd?
Alm.
No. Release him.
Piz.
Say,
Heroic youth!
What more than common motives sway thy soul?
Alm.
Their fortress I assail'd: they spared my life.
The sire of this brave man unclasp'd my chains:
The wife of this brave man spake comfort to me,
And when I seem'd in sorrow, look'd on me,
As one who views a brother.
Zam.
She beheld
Distress, nor ask'd, when misery pierced her soul,
Whether a friend or foe required relief:
'Twas human nature suffer'd, and she pitied.
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The life of man is sacred.
Piz.
You did promise
To free this chief.
Alm.
My life for his is pledged.
Piz.
Say we release him: you require no more.
Alm.
Nought, but our right, the Emperor's grant.
(Juan enters.)
Juan.
Pizzaro,
The beckoning signal waves from yonder fort.
Shall I array the troops?
Piz.
Haste, quickly arm them.
I, I will lead them.
(Juan goes.)
Alm.
Trust not to that signal.
It beckons to defeat, and foul disgrace.
Piz.
You plead the Emperor's grant. Behold my title,
Not penn'd in characters, that man can forge,
(takes his helmet off.)
Make, and unmake at will. 'Tis charter'd here;
Imprinted by the iron hand of war
On this time-furrow'd front. And till thy sword
Has razed it out, look not to rule at Cuzco.
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Will yawn afresh, wide as when first the blood
Leapt to the stroke, whene'er Pizarro yields
What conquest gave him on the well-fought field.
Here ends our conference—Guard! confine this chief!
[Exeunt omnes.
Scene changes to the Court in the Temple of the Sun.
Villoma and Zama.
Zama.
Oh go not forth. To others trust the charge.
'Tis not a woman's fear. Each voice reports
Signs of dire bodement.
Vill.
Earth has rockt ere now;
And red volcanos roar'd.
Zama.
Not these alone;
Nor lakes that heaved when not a light leaf waved;
Nor fiery armies clanging in the skies.
But from the southern turret one who watch'd
Last night—
(Priests burst in.)
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Hear, hear, Villoma!
Vill.
Why thus burst
Unbidden? Wherefore shake thy limbs?
Priest.
Good father!
Vill.
Speak, holy man!
Priest.
It was our charge, this day,
To watch the sky. Noon's solemn hour drew near;
When as we gazed observant of the God,
To hymn his mid-day pomp, at once from view
His orb sunk cloudless: and where now he flamed,
A triple halo ring'd the heav'ns—One glared
Like blood fresh spilt: the next, that far o'er-arch'd it,
Darker than starless midnight: and the third,
Of amplest curvature, scarce show'd to the eye
That strain'd to grasp it, shape or hue distinct:
But like a wavering exhalation smoked
Ceaselessly streaming. As our hearts died in us—
—O horror!—
Vill.
Speak—
Priest.
The temple's ponderous gates
Moved to and fro, untouch'd by visible hand.
And, from within, a groan of deep lament,
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Burst from the riven shrine.
Zama.
These, these are sent
Dire warnings from above. They speak to thee
In utterance not of earth. Oh go not forth!
Vill.
At this dread hour, when treason shakes the realm,
When brother against brother arms his hand,
I will not to a second trust that charge
Which duty binds on me. The will of Heav'n
Most audible,
When prodigies and portents may deceive,
Bids me defend my country.
(Orcas enters.)
Orc.
Haste, Villoma!
Thy orders are obey'd; and all succeeds.
The secret signal floats above the rock.
Lured by the sight, the traitors meet in arms:
'Mid these, beneath the cavern's low-brow'd roof,
Where the sun never shone, Gulaxa leagues
The murderous band.
Vill.
Say, are the appointed guard
Drawn forth, and well advised?—
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They wait thy word;
And call on thee to lead them.
(Orcas goes.)
Vill.
Say, I come.
Thou! if this hand, Oh Sun! that clasps thy shrine,
Has ne'er from youth to age, been raised to thee,
But to invoke from heav'n, on all beneath,
Thy universal blessing, hear my pray'r!
Accept this life a sacrifice for all!
Strike here! and save thy realm. My child! farewell!
Zama.
I will not leave thee at this dreadful hour.
Zamorin's wife has sway among the chiefs:
Zamorin's spirit, breathed in softer tone,
E'en in a woman's voice has power to daunt
The soul of guilt.
Vill.
Think of thy boding fears—
Zama.
I have no fears. Thy life, thy life's in danger.
[Exeunt omnes.
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Gulaxa, Rimac, Arcal, other Conspirators.
Gul.
Your stations are assign'd; and ye have sworn,
As fits brave men who in their cause have trust,
What time Pizarro's trumpet rends the air,
To answer the loud summons.
Rim.
We have sworn.
But where is Orcas?
Gul.
On the middle rampire
That skirts the ledge of rocks, his eye o'erlooks
The Spanish camp.
Rim.
Trust not that man, Gulaxa!
More than thy will, Villoma's safety moves him.
His life, methinks, is bosom'd in the priest,
That he so fears to wound him.
Gul.
It were well
To spare his aged brow.
Rim.
But if his zeal
Arouse the rest to vengeance.
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Self-defence
Severs at once the bonds that nature joins.
(Villoma, Zama, Orcas, Guard, burst in.)
Vill.
Guard! seize their weapons.
Rim.
Not if this avail.
Zama.
(catching his lifted hand)
A daughter's arm has saved thee.
Vill.
Drag forth these serpents from their darksome cave.
The all-seeing sun shall glare upon their shame.
(They drag them from the cave.)
Oh vile guilt!
Traitors! behold your king!—Kneel not to me.
(to Gulaxa.)
I cannot pardon thee.
Gul.
Nor do I ask it
But on such terms as shall redeem my soul
From galling infamy. I boldly claim
Not mercy, but high praise, and just reward,
Due to a deed that to remotest time
Shall consecrate my memory.
Vill.
Say on.
Gul.
The signal waves: the Spaniards soon will march.
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He, he will head them. At the lower fort
Fix me to guide his footstep up the rock.
But ere he cross the rampart, this, this hand
Shall pierce his breast.
Zama.
Oh more than serpent fell!
He only wounds, instinctively, in rage,
The foot that bruises him. But thou, Oh man!
Thou! with deliberate thought, pondering the means,
Would'st stab the friend that leans upon thy breast;
And fell him with the hand held forth in act
Of seeming kindness.
Vill.
And for this thou claim'st
Praise and reward! such recompence as suits
Such actions, be thy meed. When guilt, like thine,
Stalks forth unpunish'd, he who pardons it
Incurs Heav'n's righteous wrath.
Orc.
(looking out)
The Spanish chief
Returns, and with him, one—
Zama.
Perhaps—Zamorin—
Vill.
Conduct them hither. Oh! all gracious Heav'n!
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Thy mercy lightens, as the golden sun
Bursts from the veil of clouds.
(Almagro and Herrada enter.)
Zama.
It is not—no—
'Tis not Zamorin. Why that look of woe?
(To Almagro.)
Why art thou silent? Oh! he is no more.
Alm.
I left him living.—But—you see me here—
Zama.
I understand you. He will not live long.
Alm.
I left him at the mercy of Pizarro.
Oh! if thou wish to hear his last farewell,
Or see him more, fly, fly: my friend shall aid thee.
Rely on him, as on this willing victim
Pledged for Zamorin's life.
Gul.
(as she is rushing out)
Stay, Zama, stay.
But grant me life, (to Villoma)
and I will mark the means
To save the hostage. To her heart, again,
Zama shall clasp her lord.
Vill.
Speak, thou art pardon'd.
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(pointing to Almagro)
Lo! in this chief the murderer of thy race:
Lo! in this chief, Pizarro's fellest foe.
The favourite wish most harbour'd in his heart,
Is this man's death. Haste, proffer in exchange
His corse, and hail Zamorin.
Zama.
Let him perish!
Wretch! were Pizarro's sword now stretch'd to slay him,
And but the unwhisper'd sufferance of a deed
Bartering man's blood, would fix him in my arms;
I would exclaim, “Strike, sword!”—and lay my neck
Beneath the self-same blow—as I shall now.
(Zama rushes out, accompanied by Herrada.)
Vill.
Haste, haste; restrain her flight. My daughter! Zama!
Oh monster! (to Gulaxa)
art thou here? thou shalt not die.
It now were mercy. When Pizarro, swoln
With pride of promised victory, leads his host
Against this fort, and summons forth his slaves:
Then to confound the conqueror, cast before him
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Shall dread his destiny, and shake thee off
To crawl o'er earth an interdicted thing,
Markt by the visible finger of a God
To warn the world from sin. (To Orcas)
Be this obey'd.
[Exeunt omnes.
| The Siege of Cuzco | |