Kitabı oku: «The Indian Princess», sayfa 2

ADVERTISEMENT

The principal materials that form this dramatic trifle are extracted from the General History of Virginia, written by Captain Smith, and printed London, folio, 1624; and as close an adherence to historic truth has been preserved as dramatic rules would allow of. The music² was furnished by Mr. John Bray, of the New Theatre.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

ACT I

Scene I. Powhatan River; wild and picturesque. Ships appear. Barges approach the shore, from which land Smith, Rolfe, Percy, Walter, Larry, Robin, Alice, &c

Chorus

 
Jolly comrades, raise the glee,
Chorus it right cheerily;
For the tempest's roar is heard no more,
And gaily we tread the wish'd-for shore:
Then raise the glee merrily,
Chorus it cheerily,
For past are the perils of the blust'ring sea.
 

Smith.

 
Once more, my bold associates, welcome. Mark
What cheery aspects look upon our landing:
The face of Nature dimples o'er with smiles,
The heav'ns are cloudless, whiles the princely sun,
As glad to greet us in his fair domain,
Gives us gay salutation —
 

Larry. [To Walter.]

 
By St. Patrick
His fiery majesty does give warm welcome.
Arrah! his gracious smiles are melting —
 

Walter.

 
Plague!
He burthens us with favours till we sweat.
 

Smith.

 
What think ye, Percy, Rolfe, have we not found
Sir Walter Raleigh faithful in his tale?
Is 't not a goodly land? Along the bay,
How gay and lovely lie its skirting shores,
Fring'd with the summer's rich embroidery!
 

Percy.

 
Believe me, sir, I ne'er beheld that spot
Where Nature holds more sweet varieties.
 

Smith.

 
The gale was kind that blew us hitherward.
This noble bay were undiscover'd still,
Had not that storm arose propitious,
And, like the ever kindly breath of heav'n,
Which sometimes rides upon the tempest's wing,
Driv'n us to happiest destinies, e'en then
When most we fear'd destruction from the blast.
 

Rolfe.

 
Let our dull, sluggish countrymen at home
Still creep around their little isle of fogs,
Drink its dank vapours, and then hang themselves.
In this free atmosphere and ample range
The bosom can dilate, the pulses play,
And man, erect, can walk a manly round.
 

Robin. [Aside.]

 
Aye, and be scalp'd and roasted by the Indians.
 

Smith.

 
Now, gallant cavalier adventurers,
On this our landing spot we'll rear a town
Shall bear our good king's name to after-time,
And yours along with it; for ye are men
Well worth the handing down; whose paged names
Will not disgrace posterity to read:
Men born for acts of hardihood and valour,
Whose stirring spirits scorn'd to lie inert,
Base atoms in the mass of population
That rots in stagnant Europe. Ye are men
Who a high wealth and fame will bravely win,
And wear full worthily. I still shall be
The foremost in all troubles, toil, and danger,
Your leader and your captain, nought exacting
Save strict obedience to the watchful care
Which points to your own good: be wary then,
And let not any mutinous hand unravel
Our close knit compact. Union is its strength:
Be that remember'd ever. Gallant gentlemen,
We have a noble stage, on which to act
A noble drama; let us then sustain
Our sev'ral parts with credit and with honour.
Now, sturdy comrades, cheerly to our tasks!
 

[Exeunt Smith, Rolfe, &c.

Scene II. A grove

Enter Walter and Larry

Larry. Now by the black eyes of my Katy, but that master of yours and captain of mine is a prince!

Walter. Tut, you hav'n't seen an inch yet of the whole hero. Had you followed him as I have, from a knee-high urchin, you'd confess that there never was soldier fit to cry comrade to him. O! 'twould have made your blood frisk in your veins to have seen him in Turkey and Tartary, when he made the clumsy infidels dance to the music of his broad sword!

Larry. Troth now, the mussulmans may have been mightily amused by the caper; but for my part I should modestly prefer skipping to the simple jig of an Irish bag-pipe.

Walter. Then he had the prettiest mode of forming their manners —

Larry. Arrah, how might that be?

Walter. For example: whenever they were so ill-bred as to appear with their turbans on before him, he uses me this keen argument to convince them they shewed discourtesy. He whips me out his sword, and knocks their turbans off —

Larry. Knocks their turbans off?

Walter. Aye, egad, and their heads to boot.

Larry. A dev'lish cutting way of reasoning indeed; that argument cou'dn't be answered asily.

Walter. Devil a tongue ever wagg'd in replication, Larry. – Ah! my fairy of felicity – my mouthful of melody – my wife —

Enter Alice

Well, Alice, we are now in the wilds of Virginia, and, tell me truly, doesn't repent following me over the ocean, wench? wilt be content in these wild woods, with only a little husband, and a great deal of love, pretty Alice?

Alice. Can you ask that? are not all places alike if you are with me, Walter?

Song.– Alice

 
In this wild wood will I range;
Listen, listen, dear!
Nor sigh for towns so fine, to change
This forest drear.
Toils and dangers I'll despise,
Never, never weary;
And be, while love is in thine eyes,
Ever cheery.
Ah! what to me were cities gay;
Listen, listen, dear!
If from me thou wert away,
Alas! how drear!
Oh! still o'er sea, o'er land I'll rove,
Never, never weary;
And follow on where leads my love,
Ever cheery.
 

Larry. Och! the creature!

Walter. Let my lips tell thee what my tongue cannot.

[Kiss.

Larry. Aye, do, do stop her mellifluous mouth; for the little nightingale warbles so like my Kate, she makes me sigh for Ballinamoné; ah! just so would the constant creature carol all day about, roving through the seas and over the woods.

Enter Robin

Robin. Master Walter, the captain is a going to explore the country, and you must along.

Walter. That's our fine captain, always stirring.

Robin. Plague on his industry! would you think it, we are all incontinently to fall a chopping down trees, and building our own houses, like the beavers.

Larry. Well, sure, that's the fashionable mode of paying rent in this country.

Alice. O, Walter, these merciless savages! I sha'n't be merry till you return —

Robin. I warrant ye, mistress Alice – Lord love you I shall be here.

Walter. Cheerly, girl; our captain will make the red rogues scamper like so many dun deer. Savages, quotha! at sight of him, their copper skins will turn pale as silver, with the very alchemy of fear. Come, a few kisses, en passant, and then away! cheerly, my dainty Alice.

[Exeunt Walter and Alice.

Robin. Aye, go your ways, master Walter, and when you are gone —

Larry. What then! I suppose you'll be after talking nonsense to his wife. But if ever I catch you saying your silly things —

Robin. Mum, Lord love you, how can you think it? But hark ye, master Larry, in this same drama that our captain spoke of, you and I act parts, do we not?

Larry. Arrah, to be sure, we are men of parts.

Robin. Shall I tell you in earnest what we play in this merry comedy?

Larry. Be doing it.

Robin. Then we play the parts of two fools, look you, to part with all at home, and come to these savage parts, where, Heaven shield us, our heads may be parted from our bodies. Think what a catastrophe, master Larry!

Larry. So the merry comedy ends a doleful tragedy, and exit fool in the character of a hero! That's glory, sirrah, a very feather in our cap.

Robin. A light gain to weigh against the heavy loss of one's head. Feather quotha! what use of a plumed hat without a head to wear it withal?

Larry. Tut, man, our captain will lead us through all dangers.

Robin. Will he? an' he catch me following him through these same dangers —

Larry. Och, you spalpeen! I mean he'll lead us out of peril.

Robin. Thank him for nothing; for I've predetermined, look you, not to be led into peril. Oh, master Larry, what a plague had I to do to leave my snug cot and my brown lass, to follow master Rolfe to this devil of a country, where there's never a girl nor a house!

Larry. Out, you driveller! didn't I leave as neat a black-ey'd girl, and as pretty a prolific potato-patch all in tears —

Robin. Your potato-patch in tears! that's a bull, master Larry —

Larry. You're a calf, master Robin. Wasn't it raining? Och, I shall never forget it; the thunder rolling, and her tongue a-going, and her tears and the rain; och, bother, but it was a dismal morning!

Song– Larry

I

 
Och! dismal and dark was the day, to be sure,
When Larry took leave of sweet Katy Maclure;
And clouds dark as pitch hung just like a black lace
O'er the sweet face of Heav'n and my Katy's sweet face.
Then, while the wind blow'd, and she sigh'd might and main,
Drops from the black skies
Fell – and from her black eyes;
Och! how I was soak'd with her tears – and the rain.
 

[Speaks.] And then she gave me this beautiful keep-sake [Shows a pair of scissors.], which if ever I part with, may a tailor clip me in two with his big shears. Och! when Katy took you in hand, how nicely did you snip and snap my bushy, carroty locks; and now you're cutting the hairs of my heart to pieces, you tieves you —

 
[Sings.] Och! Hubbaboo – Gramachree – Hone!
 

II

 
When I went in the garden, each bush seem'd to sigh
Because I was going – and nod me good-bye;
Each stem hung its head, drooping bent like a bow,
With the weight of the water – or else of its woe;
And while sorrow, or wind, laid some flat on the ground,
Drops of rain, or of grief,
Fell from every leaf,
Till I thought in a big show'r of tears I was drown'd.
 

[Speaks.] And then each bush and leaf seem'd to sigh, and say, "don't forget us, Larry." I won't, said I. – "But arrah, take something for remembrance," said they; and then I dug up this neat jewel [Shows a potato.]; you're a little withered to be sure, but if ever I forget your respectable family, or your delightful dwelling place – may I never again see any of your beautiful brothers and plump sisters! – Och! my darling, if you had come hot from the hand of Katy, how my mouth would have watered at ye; now, you divil, you bring the water into my eyes.

 
[Sings.] Och! Hubbaboo – Gramachree – Hone!
 

[Exeunt.

Scene III. Werocomoco, the royal village of Powhatan. Indian Girls arranging ornaments for a bridal dress. Music

Nima. Let us make haste, my companions, to finish the dress of the bride; to-day the prince Miami returns with our hunters from the chase; to-morrow he will bear away our princess to his own nation.

Enter Pocahontas from the wood, with bow and arrow, and a flamingo (red bird). Music as she enters

Princess. See, Nima, a flamingo.

Indian Girls crowd around, and admire the bird

Princess. O Nima! I will use my bow no longer; I go out to the wood, and my heart is light; but while my arrow flies, I sorrow; and when the bird drops through the branches, tears come into mine eyes. I will no longer use my bow.

Distant hunting-horn. Music. They place themselves in attitudes of listening. Hunting-horn nearer

Nima. 'Tis Miami and our hunters. Princess, why are your looks sad?

Princess. O Nima! the prince comes to bear me far from my father and my brother. I must quit for ever the companions and the woods that are dear to me. Nima, the Susquehannocks are a powerful nation, and my father would have them for his friends. He gives his daughter to their prince, but his daughter trembles to look upon the fierce Miami.

Music. Hunters seen winding down the hills; they are met by the women of the village; Miami approaches Pocahontas, and his attendants lay skins at her feet

Miami. Princess, behold the spoils I bring thee. Our hunters are laden with the deer and the soft furred beaver. But Miami scorned such prey: I watched for the mighty buffalo and the shaggy bear; my club felled them to the ground, and I tore their skins from their backs. The fierce carcajou had wound himself around the tree, ready to dart upon the hunter; but the hunter's eyes were not closed, and the carcajou quivered on the point of my spear. I heard the wolf howl as he looked at the moon, and the beams that feel upon his upturned face shewed my tomahawk the spot it was to enter. I marked where the panther had crouched, and, before he could spring, my arrow went into his heart. Behold the spoil the Susquehannock brings thee!

Princess. Susquehannock, thou'rt a mighty hunter. Powhatan shall praise thee for his daughter. But why returns not my brother with thee?

Miami. Nantaquas still finds pleasure in the hunt, but the soul of Miami grew weary of being away from Werocomoco, for there dwelt the daughter of Powhatan.

Princess. Let us go to my father.

Music. Exeunt Princess and Miami into palace, followed by Nima and train; the others into their several cabins

Scene IV. A Forest. Smith enters, bewildered in its mazes. Music, expressive of his situation

Smith.

 
'Tis all in vain! no clue to guide my steps.
 

[Music.

 
By this the explorers have return'd despairing,
And left their forward leader to his fate.
The rashness is well punish'd, that, alone,
Would brave the entangling mazes of these wilds.
The night comes on, and soon these gloomy woods
Will echo to the yell of savage beasts,
And savage men more merciless. Alas!
And am I, after all my golden dreams
Of laurel'd glory, doom'd in wilds to fall,
Ignobly and obscure, the prey of brutes?
 

[Music.

 
Fie on these coward thoughts! this trusty sword,
That made the Turk and Tartar crouch beneath me,
Will stead me well, e'en in this wilderness.
 

[Music.

 
O glory! thou who led'st me fearless on,
Where death stalk'd grimly over slaughter'd heaps,
Or drank the drowning shrieks of shipwreck'd wretches,
Swell high the bosom of thy votary!
 

[Music. Exit Smith.

Music. A party of Indians enter, as following Smith, and steal cautiously after him. The Indian yell within. Music, hurried. Re-enter Smith, engaged with the Indians; several fall. Exeunt, fighting, and enter from the opposite side the Prince Nantaquas, who views with wonder the prowess of Smith; when the music has ceased he speaks

Sure 'tis our war-god, Aresqui himself, who lays our chiefs low! Now they stop; he fights no longer; he stands terrible as the panther, which the fearful hunter dares not approach. Stranger, brave stranger, Nantaquas must know thee!

[Music.

He rushes out, and re-enters with Smith

Prince. Art thou not then a God?

Smith. As thou art, warrior, but a man.

Prince. Then art thou a man like a God; thou shalt be the brother of Nantaquas. Stranger, my father is king of the country, and many nations obey him: will thou be the friend of the great Powhatan?

Smith. Freely, prince; I left my own country to be the red man's friend.

Prince. Wonderful man, where is thy country?

Smith. It lies far beyond the wide water.

Prince. Is there then a world beyond the wide water? I thought only the sun had been there: thou comest then from behind the sun?

Smith. Not so, prince.

Prince. Listen to me. Thy country lies beyond the wide water, and from it do mine eyes behold the sun rise each morning.

Smith. Prince, to your sight he seems to rise from thence, but your eyes are deceived, they reach not over the wilderness of waters.

Prince. Where sleeps the sun then?

Smith. The sun never sleeps. When you see him sink behind the mountains, he goes to give light to other countries, where darkness flies before him, as it does here, when you behold him rise in the east: thus he chases Night for ever round the world.

Prince. Tell me, wise stranger, how came you from your country across the wide water? when our canoes venture but a little from the shore, the waves never fail to swallow them up.

Smith. Prince, the Great Spirit is the friend of the white men, and they have arts which the red men know not.

Prince. My brother, will you teach the red men?

Smith. I come to do it. My king is a king of a mighty nation; he is great and good: go, said he, go and make the red men wise and happy.

During the latter part of the dialogue, the Indians had crept in, still approaching till they had almost surrounded Smith. A burst of savage music. They seize and bear him off, the Prince in vain endeavouring to prevent it

Prince. Hold! the white man is the brother of your prince; hold, coward warriors!

[He rushes out.

Scene V. Powhatan River, as the first scene

Enter Larry

Now do I begin to suspect, what, to be sure, I've been certain of a long time, that master Robin's a little bit of a big rogue. I just now observed him with my friend Walter's wife. Arrah! here they come. By your leave, fair dealing, I'll play the eavesdropper behind this tree.

[Retires behind a tree.

Enter Alice, followed by Robin

Robin. But, mistress Alice, pretty Alice.

Alice. Ugly Robin, I'll not hear a syllable.

Robin. But plague, prithee, Alice, why so coy?

Enter Walter [observing them, stops]

Alice. Master Robin, if you follow me about any longer with your fooleries, my Walter shall know of it.

Robin. A fig for Walter! is he to be mentioned the same day with the dapper Robin? can Walter make sonnets and madrigals, and set them, and sing them? besides, the Indians have eat him by this, I hope.

Walter. Oh, the rascal!

Robin. Come, pretty one, quite alone, no one near, even that blundering Irishman away.

Larry. O you spalpeen! I'll blunder on you anon.

Robin. Shall we, Alice, shall we?

Quartetto

Robin.

 
Mistress Alice, say,
Walter's far away,
Pretty Alice!
Nay, now – prithee, pray,
Shall we, Alice? hey!
Mistress Alice?
 

Alice.

 
Master Robin, nay —
Prithee, go your way,
Saucy Robin!
If you longer stay,
You may rue the day,
Master Robin.
 

Walter. [Aside.] True my Alice is.

Larry. [Aside.] Wat shall know of this.

Robin. [Struggling.] Pretty Alice!

Walter. [Aside.] What a rascal 'tis!

Larry. [Aside.] He'll kill poor Rob, I wis!

Robin. [Struggling.]

 
Mistress Alice,
Let me taste the bliss —
 

[Attempts to kiss her.

Alice.

 
Taste the bliss of this,
 

[Slaps his face.

 
Saucy Robin!
 

Walter. [Advancing.] Oh, what wond'rous bliss!

Larry. [Advancing.] How d'ye like the kiss?

[Robin steals off.

Walter. Jackanapes!

Larry. Aye, hop off, cock robin! Blood and thunder now, that such a sparrow should try to turn hawk, and pounce on your little pullet here.

Alice. Welcome, my bonny Walter.

Walter. A sweet kiss, Alice, to season my bitter tidings. Our captain's lost.

Walter. You shall hear. A league or two below this, we entered a charming stream, that seemed to glide through a fairy land of fertility. I must know more of this, said our captain. Await my return here. So bidding us moor the pinnace in a broad basin, where the Indian's arrows could reach us from neither side, away he went, alone in his boat, to explore the river to its head.