登陆注册
15446800000002

第2章 ACT I(1)

SCENE

The Market Place of Padua at noon; in the background is the great Cathedral of Padua; the architecture is Romanesque, and wrought in black and white marbles; a flight of marble steps leads up to the Cathedral door; at the foot of the steps are two large stone lions; the houses on each aide of the stage have coloured awnings from their windows, and are flanked by stone arcades; on the right of the stage is the public fountain, with a triton in green bronze blowing from a conch; around the fountain is a stone seat; the bell of the Cathedral is ringing, and the citizens, men, women and children, are passing into the Cathedral.

[Enter GUIDO FERRANTI and ASCANIO CRISTOFANO.]

ASCANIO

Now by my life, Guido, I will go no farther; for if I walk another step I will have no life left to swear by; this wild-goose errand of yours!

[Sits down on the step of the fountain.]

GUIDO

I think it must be here. [Goes up to passer-by and doffs his cap.]

Pray, sir, is this the market place, and that the church of Santa Croce? [Citizen bows.] I thank you, sir.

ASCANIO

Well?

GUIDO

Ay! it is here.

ASCANIO

I would it were somewhere else, for I see no wine-shop.

GUIDO

[Taking a letter from his pocket and reading it.] 'The hour noon; the city, Padua; the place, the market; and the day, Saint Philip's Day.'

ASCANIO

And what of the man, how shall we know him?

GUIDO

[reading still] 'I will wear a violet cloak with a silver falcon broidered on the shoulder.' A brave attire, Ascanio.

ASCANIO

I'd sooner have my leathern jerkin. And you think he will tell you of your father?

GUIDO

Why, yes! It is a month ago now, you remember; I was in the vineyard, just at the corner nearest the road, where the goats used to get in, a man rode up and asked me was my name Guido, and gave me this letter, signed 'Your Father's Friend,' bidding me be here to-day if I would know the secret of my birth, and telling me how to recognise the writer! I had always thought old Pedro was my uncle, but he told me that he was not, but that I had been left a child in his charge by some one he had never since seen.

ASCANIO

And you don't know who your father is?

GUIDO

No.

ASCANIO

No recollection of him even?

GUIDO

None, Ascanio, none.

ASCANIO

[laughing] Then he could never have boxed your ears so often as my father did mine.

GUIDO

[smiling] I am sure you never deserved it.

ASCANIO

Never; and that made it worse. I hadn't the consciousness of guilt to buoy me up. What hour did you say he fixed?

GUIDO

Noon. [Clock in the Cathedral strikes.]

ASCANIO

It is that now, and your man has not come. I don't believe in him, Guido. I think it is some wench who has set her eye at you; and, as I have followed you from Perugia to Padua, I swear you shall follow me to the nearest tavern. [Rises.] By the great gods of eating, Guido, I am as hungry as a widow is for a husband, as tired as a young maid is of good advice, and as dry as a monk's sermon.

Come, Guido, you stand there looking at nothing, like the fool who tried to look into his own mind; your man will not come.

GUIDO

Well, I suppose you are right. Ah! [Just as he is leaving the stage with ASCANIO, enter LORD MORANZONE in a violet cloak, with a silver falcon broidered on the shoulder; he passes across to the Cathedral, and just as he is going in GUIDO runs up and touches him.]

MORANZONE

Guido Ferranti, thou hast come in time.

GUIDO

What! Does my father live?

MORANZONE

Ay! lives in thee.

Thou art the same in mould and lineament, Carriage and form, and outward semblances;

I trust thou art in noble mind the same.

GUIDO

Oh, tell me of my father; I have lived But for this moment.

MORANZONE

We must be alone.

GUIDO

This is my dearest friend, who out of love Has followed me to Padua; as two brothers, There is no secret which we do not share.

MORANZONE

There is one secret which ye shall not share;

Bid him go hence.

GUIDO

[to ASCANIO] Come back within the hour.

He does not know that nothing in this world Can dim the perfect mirror of our love.

Within the hour come.

ASCANIO

Speak not to him, There is a dreadful terror in his look.

GUIDO

[laughing]

Nay, nay, I doubt not that he has come to tell That I am some great Lord of Italy, And we will have long days of joy together.

Within the hour, dear Ascanio.

[Exit ASCANIO.]

Now tell me of my father?

[Sits down on a stone seat.]

Stood he tall?

I warrant he looked tall upon his horse.

His hair was black? or perhaps a reddish gold, Like a red fire of gold? Was his voice low?

The very bravest men have voices sometimes Full of low music; or a clarion was it That brake with terror all his enemies?

Did he ride singly? or with many squires And valiant gentlemen to serve his state?

For oftentimes methinks I feel my veins Beat with the blood of kings. Was he a king?

MORANZONE

Ay, of all men he was the kingliest.

GUIDO

[proudly] Then when you saw my noble father last He was set high above the heads of men?

MORANZONE

Ay, he was high above the heads of men, [Walks over to GUIDO and puts his hand upon his shoulder.]

On a red scaffold, with a butcher's block Set for his neck.

GUIDO

[leaping up]

What dreadful man art thou, That like a raven, or the midnight owl, Com'st with this awful message from the grave?

MORANZONE

I am known here as the Count Moranzone, Lord of a barren castle on a rock, With a few acres of unkindly land And six not thrifty servants. But I was one Of Parma's noblest princes; more than that, I was your father's friend.

GUIDO

[clasping his hand] Tell me of him.

MORANZONE

You are the son of that great Duke Lorenzo, He was the Prince of Parma, and the Duke Of all the fair domains of Lombardy Down to the gates of Florence; nay, Florence even Was wont to pay him tribute -

GUIDO

Come to his death.

MORANZONE

You will hear that soon enough. Being at war - O noble lion of war, that would not suffer Injustice done in Italy! - he led The very flower of chivalry against That foul adulterous Lord of Rimini, Giovanni Malatesta - whom God curse!

And was by him in treacherous ambush taken, And like a villain, or a low-born knave, Was by him on the public scaffold murdered.

GUIDO

[clutching his dagger] Doth Malatesta live?

MORANZONE

No, he is dead.

GUIDO

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 洛克王国之商店街告密者

    洛克王国之商店街告密者

    洛奇等人协助罗宾侦探调查小丑服的来源时,兰斯洛团长收到了一封来自商店街的告密信,举报皮卡小姐有重大嫌疑。皮卡小姐在接受兰斯洛询问之后,神秘失踪!
  • 真实的世界不存在的

    真实的世界不存在的

    在上一秒钟一粒尘埃落下,也许...上一秒什么都没发生过。你看到的就一定是真实的吗?你的记忆就一定是真实的吗?我们也许只不过是被模拟出来的罢了。真实?不存在的。
  • The Malefactor

    The Malefactor

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 独步诸天

    独步诸天

    诸天号令,谁敢不从!少年古辰巧获诸天圣令,修万象神功,以主宰之威横扫武府宗门,凭无上霸气踏天才妖孽,独步九霄,号令诸天!
  • 重生之修谨

    重生之修谨

    上一世,她用十一年去惩罚别人,到头来才发现她用十一年惩罚了自己。这一世,她要远离仇恨,过自己的平静生活。被恨的人,是没有痛苦的;而去恨的人,却伤痕累累。
  • 花季奇妙感情透视

    花季奇妙感情透视

    你也许会说,心理健康与否,只不过是个人的小事,和别人、和社会没有什么牵连,你说错了。比方说,如果一个人手脚不灵便,但心理健康,那么对于他的人格影响不大。因而,不论为了个人、家庭,还是为了民族的命运,我们每个人都应当保持心理健康。
  • 尘世仙缘

    尘世仙缘

    兹有南疆奇才佳公子,前往南疆第一大派求道问仙途中,偶然遇见正魔两道大打出手。他不知这一次偶遇,却意外开始了第三次正魔大战的序曲。青石降世!无上至道!他只是一个南疆凡世界毫不起眼的小人物,却逐渐成为正魔两道存亡的关键!她睥睨天下,是正道第一大派的传人。他却懵懵懂懂,只是大派看守门户的废物。她婉约如水,是魔道龙凤圣主的女儿。他压抑而沉寂,只因为世俗与道德的不容。仙道与神魔的交集,真实与梦想的抉择,会谱出怎样的旷世恋歌?等待他们的是一条不归之路?还是问鼎仙道的至尊?一切精彩,尽在尘世仙缘!!
  • 我是天王我自豪

    我是天王我自豪

    前世的李致远因为家境贫寒不仅放弃了读大学的机会,还舍弃了自己成名的梦想,在日复一日年复一年的工厂里浑浑噩噩的度过了20光阴,最后好不容易快熬到主管一职,谁知工厂倒闭,老板带着钱跑了,李致远光荣下岗,本来每月刚好够养活一家子的工资也断了经济来源。屋漏偏逢连夜雨,李致远既然患上了肺癌,需要一大笔的医疗费,最后媳妇儿带着儿子离开,父母早已离世,亲戚也一个个疏远,李致远心灰意冷,便打算回到乡下的老屋,等待死亡落叶归根,可谁知既然遭遇飞机事故,醒来时带着前世记忆重生回到平行位面,便誓要完成前世所有遗憾,来一段属于他自己的星光大道。
  • 中立帝国

    中立帝国

    胡北穿越到天元大陆,发现异界是如此危险,大杨帝国八百诸侯,纷争不断;百家争鸣,群魔乱舞。胡北有一个破产的领地,相依为命的福伯,狗都养不起。胡北弱弱的宣布:我中立。为了美好的小资生活,胡北不得不动用金手指,可是总是有人不断伸出的邪恶魔爪。
  • 内分泌科速查手册

    内分泌科速查手册

    《内分泌科速查手册》是为了适应我国医疗制度的改革和满足广大医师的要求,进一步提高临床医务人员的诊治技能和水平,组织国内长期从事临床一线工作的专家、教授,结合他们多年的临床、科研及教学经验编写的。全书由三部分组成,内分泌科常见症状的诊断、临床常见内分泌科疾病的诊疗、内分泌科疾病的特殊检查。