登陆注册
5419700000012

第12章

They glare from the abyss;

They cry, from unknown graves, "We are the Witnesses!

THE QUADROON GIRL

The Slaver in the broad lagoon Lay moored with idle sail;He waited for the rising moon, And for the evening gale.

Under the shore his boat was tied, And all her listless crew Watched the gray alligator slide Into the still bayou.

Odors of orange-flowers, and spice, Reached them from time to time, Like airs that breathe from Paradise Upon a world of crime.

The Planter, under his roof of thatch, Smoked thoughtfully and slow;The Slaver's thumb was on the latch, He seemed in haste to go.

He said, "My ship at anchor rides In yonder broad lagoon;I only wait the evening tides, And the rising of the moon.

Before them, with her face upraised, In timid attitude, Like one half curious, half amazed, A Quadroon maiden stood.

Her eyes were large, and full of light, Her arms and neck were bare;No garment she wore save a kirtle bright, And her own long, raven hair.

And on her lips there played a smile As holy, meek, and faint, As lights in some cathedral aisle The features of a saint.

"The soil is barren,--the farm is old";

The thoughtful planter said;

Then looked upon the Slaver's gold, And then upon the maid.

His heart within him was at strife With such accursed gains:

For he knew whose passions gave her life, Whose blood ran in her veins.

But the voice of nature was too weak;

He took the glittering gold!

Then pale as death grew the maiden's cheek, Her hands as icy cold.

The Slaver led her from the door, He led her by the hand, To be his slave and paramour In a strange and distant land!

THE WARNING

Beware! The Israelite of old, who tore The lion in his path,--when, poor and blind, He saw the blessed light of heaven no more, Shorn of his noble strength and forced to grind In prison, and at last led forth to be A pander to Philistine revelry,--Upon the pillars of the temple laid His desperate hands, and in its overthrow Destroyed himself, and with him those who made A cruel mockery of his sightless woe;The poor, blind Slave, the scoff and jest of all, Expired, and thousands perished in the fall!

There is a poor, blind Samson in this land, Shorn of his strength and bound in bonds of steel, Who may, in some grim revel, raise his hand, And shake the pillars of this Commonweal, Till the vast Temple of our liberties.

A shapeless mass of wreck and rubbish lies.

*******************

THE SPANISH STUDENT

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

VICTORIAN

HYPOLITOStudents of Alcala.

THE COUNT OF LARA

DON CARLOS Gentlemen of Madrid.

THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO.

A CARDINAL.

BELTRAN CRUZADO Count of the Gypsies.

BARTOLOME ROMAN A young Gypsy.

THE PADRE CURA OF GUADARRAMA.

PEDRO CRESPOAlcalde.

PANCHO Alguacil.

FRANCISCO Lara's Servant.

CHISPA Victorian's Servant.

BALTASARInnkeeper.

PRECIOSAA Gypsy Girl.

ANGELICAA poor Girl.

MARTINA The Padre Cura's Niece.

DOLORES Preciosa's Maid.

Gypsies, Musicians, etc.

ACT I.

SCENE I.--The COUNT OF LARA'S chambers.Night.The COUNT in his dressing-gown, smoking and conversing with DON CARLOS.

Lara.You were not at the play tonight, Don Carlos;How happened it?

Don C.I had engagements elsewhere.

Pray who was there?

Lara.Why all the town and court.

The house was crowded; and the busy fans Among the gayly dressed and perfumed ladies Fluttered like butterflies among the flowers.

There was the Countess of Medina Celi;

The Goblin Lady with her Phantom Lover, Her Lindo Don Diego; Dona Sol, And Dona Serafina, and her cousins.

Don C.What was the play?

Lara.It was a dull affair;

One of those comedies in which you see, As Lope says, the history of the world Brought down from Genesis to the Day of Judgment.

There were three duels fought in the first act, Three gentlemen receiving deadly wounds, Laying their hands upon their hearts, and saying, "O, I am dead!" a lover in a closet, An old hidalgo, and a gay Don Juan, A Dona Inez with a black mantilla, Followed at twilight by an unknown lover, Who looks intently where he knows she is not!

Don C.Of course, the Preciosa danced to-night?

Lara.And never better.Every footstep fell As lightly as a sunbeam on the water.

I think the girl extremely beautiful.

Don C.Almost beyond the privilege of woman!

I saw her in the Prado yesterday.

Her step was royal,--queen-like,--and her face As beautiful as a saint's in Paradise.

Lara.May not a saint fall from her Paradise, And be no more a saint?

Don C.Why do you ask?

Lara.Because I have heard it said this angel fell, And though she is a virgin outwardly, Within she is a sinner; like those panels Of doors and altar-pieces the old monks Painted in convents, with the Virgin Mary On the outside, and on the inside Venus!

Don C.You do her wrong; indeed, you do her wrong!

She is as virtuous as she is fair.

Lara.How credulous you are! Why look you, friend, There's not a virtuous woman in Madrid, In this whole city! And would you persuade me That a mere dancing-girl, who shows herself, Nightly, half naked, on the stage, for money, And with voluptuous motions fires the blood Of inconsiderate youth, is to be held A model for her virtue?

Don C.You forget She is a Gypsy girl.

Lara.And therefore won The easier.

Don C.Nay, not to be won at all!

The only virtue that a Gypsy prizes Is chastity.That is her only virtue.

Dearer than life she holds it.I remember A Gypsy woman, a vile, shameless bawd, Whose craft was to betray the young and fair;And yet this woman was above all bribes.

And when a noble lord, touched by her beauty, The wild and wizard beauty of her race, Offered her gold to be what she made others, She turned upon him, with a look of scorn, And smote him in the face!

Lara.And does that prove That Preciosa is above suspicion?

Don C.It proves a nobleman may be repulsed When he thinks conquest easy.I believe That woman, in her deepest degradation, Holds something sacred, something undefiled, Some pledge and keepsake of her higher nature, And, like the diamond in the dark, retains Some quenchless gleam of the celestial light!

Lara.Yet Preciosa would have taken the gold.

Don C.(rising).I do not think so.

同类推荐
  • LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

    LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说胜义空经

    佛说胜义空经

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Twelfth Night

    Twelfth Night

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天道偶测

    天道偶测

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宋徽宗御解道德真经

    宋徽宗御解道德真经

    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。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 娇师为后

    娇师为后

    据言,老太婆仗着两国联姻霸占皇后之位,打压后宫;据言,这老太婆常年泡在药罐子里,面黄肌瘦脾气暴躁;据言,这老太婆如狼似虎,皇上每去都能丢了半条命;可皇上偏偏专宠她一人。“皇上?,皇后打伤了莲贵人”“把莲贵人关起来”“皇上,大臣们要你废后”“让他们回家种田”“皇上,皇后说要去找别的男人……诶诶,皇上你去哪里?”钟离誉,“师父,听说你又惦念着‘小师弟’了?!”魏子蘅恼,“混账东西,从我身上滚下去!!”世人只知他宠她入骨、爱她至深,却不知他折磨她、囚禁她,情愿两厢折磨,也不愿放手…
  • 绝世妖娆:毒妃,很倾城!

    绝世妖娆:毒妃,很倾城!

    一朝穿越,她穿越到架空世界。身边莫名其妙多了一个神秘贴身侍卫。一天,某女翘着二郎腿,痞气十足道:“话说,贴身侍卫,怎么个贴身法?”怎知,此话刚完她便后悔了。某男强将她搂入怀中,邪魅一笑,“所谓贴身,便是你吃饭我贴你,你洗澡我看你,你睡觉嘛……”说罢,某男一脸坏笑,某女惊恐。NO!人家不要做三“贴”小姐!
  • 重生之宅心计

    重生之宅心计

    凉水泼下来的时候,地上的人终于有了一丝动静。四面八方的目光落在她身上,围观的人依旧在指指点点,表情无不是冷漠、不屑,以及鄙夷。她冻得浑身哆嗦,像是落入了无边无尽的黑暗,勉强睁开眼时世界都已经颠倒,锥心刺骨的疼像潮水般涌来,一个巨浪便把自己吞没,她仿佛听见有人在叫她,一遍又一遍,她却不能够回应。“孽妇,还不认罪!”祠堂之上族长拍桌而起,指着那近乎奄奄一息的女子,气愤地说:“给我打,继续打!打到她承认为止!”
  • 才不是怪物的日常

    才不是怪物的日常

    这是一个久经沙场的龙兽人,他没有名字,他一直在逃避追杀,直到有一天他败给了她……那头兽人的自由消失了……
  • 餐饮酒店最佳服务模式

    餐饮酒店最佳服务模式

    通过剖析海底捞、海景花园酒店、天目湖宾馆等优秀餐饮酒店企业精深的服务模式和鲜活的服务技巧,揭示了餐饮酒店最佳服务模式的两大核心:一是服务好内部员工,因为员工用心是顾客满意的前提,感动员工才能感动顾客;二是服务好外部顾客,因为顾客是你的衣食父母,留住顾客就是留住的利润。
  • 章木头

    章木头

    吴君,女,中国作协会员。曾获首届中国小说双年奖、广东新人新作奖。长篇小说《我们不是一个人类》被媒体评为2004年最值得记忆五部长篇之一。出版多本中篇小说集。根据其中篇小说《亲爱的深圳》改编的电影已在国内及北美地区发行放映。
  • 超武穿梭

    超武穿梭

    地球正处星际时代,科技发达,古武与机甲结合,在星空中横扫四方。乾元大陆,纯粹的武道世界,强大的武者飞天遁地,遨游星空。一枚神奇的时空水晶,让云帆拥有穿梭地球与乾元大陆的能力,学乾元大陆的武道,操控地球世界的机甲,最强的武道与最强的机甲配合,成为宇宙间最顶尖的强者。《纯阳真仙》《剑逆苍穹》《无量真仙》《至尊箭神》,四本万订,四本精品,品质保证,欢迎阅读。
  • 格格千岁千千岁

    格格千岁千千岁

    首先,这是同人文!是还珠格格+铁齿铜牙纪晓岚作为被皇阿玛和老佛爷最宠爱的格格作为协助管理后宫的掌事嬷嬷作为爱走江湖仗剑天涯的女侠艾潇潇的压力很大的自从遇见那个叫做福康安的富察大人之后艾潇潇就时常思绪混乱,词不达意,可是他对她的宠爱,他对她的放纵,他对她的霸道尤其是,那句潇潇,我定会护你一世周全!让她沉溺不已,这一沉溺,便是一生。
  • 自我的实现(马斯洛现代成功心理经典)

    自我的实现(马斯洛现代成功心理经典)

    开掘心理,发挥潜能,追求人生的最大成功和幸福,这就是全面推出这套书的主旨。
  • 我会诅咒,请避开!

    我会诅咒,请避开!

    我米若石长相一般、身材一般、家庭一般、大学一般、工作一般,我就是站在人群中立马会消失其中的“一般人”,30岁的我谈过3场恋爱,每一段的结局都是,不了了之,上天可能听到了我的呼唤,竟然真的重新给我了一段不一般的人生,可这人生也太扯了,暗藏杀机和阴谋,我竟然还能诅咒谁,谁就一定会倒霉,这牛掰的神力我还真是有些忘乎所以,可神力背后竟然是一段可怕的故事,胆小勿进!还是让我回到现实吧!