Chapter 11 Jean Desmares, Roxelana (1643)[570]

Foreword by Galina Yermolenko Translation from French by Andrzej Dziedzic

Not much is known about Desmares’s life and work. His Roxelane came out at a time when tragicomedies and Turkish plots were in vogue on the French theatrical stages.^[571] This was the first French play, however, to deal with the Soliman-Roxolana plot,^[572] or the story of how Roxolana tricked Soliman into marrying her in violation of an age-old Ottoman tradition, according to which sultans were not to marry their concubines.

Bonarelli’s influence is palpable in Desmares’s play, in terms of the neoclassical “unities” (of time, action, and space) and the cast of characters. Although Mustapha does not appear as a character here, his name is mentioned several times by his mother Circassa and other characters. In this way Desmares interwove the tragic Mustapha plot with the comic “marriage trick” plot, thereby producing a tragicomedy.

In addition to Soliman and Roxelana, one finds here several other characters that usually appear in early modern plays on this subject.^[575] In his conventional role as Soliman’s advisor often speaking in defense of Mustapha and against Roxelana, Acmat takes Circassa’s side in this play.

As Henry Lancaster wrote, “The play lacks popular appeal in that neither side wins our sympathy [... ]. On the other hand, with the law of Bajazet, the mufti, the Koran, and the harem, the author gives a more Turkish atmosphere than most of the rivals, and the action of the play, which steadily advances to the final victory of the heroine, is worthy of considerable commendation.”^[577]

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

SOLIMAN

RUSTAN ACMAT ORMIN OSMAN THE MUFTI PAGE

ROXELANA CIRCASSA CHAMERIA

ACT II, scene 1

(Soliman, Acmat, the Mufti, Ormin)

SOLIMAN: No, no, this magnificence whose splendor surrounds me, Superb Palaces, the Scepter, the Crown,

So many subjugated peoples, so many subdued Nations, Are only a small part of my happiness.

A more desirable good whose intense pleasure Ignores the fickleness of capricious fate That I take upon myself, and which depends upon me Alone establishes my glory, and makes me live as a King. A delicious fire, a divine flame

Fills my heart and my soul with so many good things.

The Empire pleases me only Because in it I posses such a charming treasure.

Far from blushing because of it, Acmat, I want stories To recount my love as much as my victories, May the posterity too declare me A victorious Prince and a happy lover.

ACMAT: Master, I know that in vain a remedy is offered

To whoever takes pleasure in the sickness, which possesses him And which wounds the lover’s imagination, While the truth fights against passion.

Nonetheless, it is my duty to warn you.

MUFTI: Learn by way of a maxim

That whoever criticizes a King, perpetrates a crime, And that by offending the will of Kings or Gods, One commits a sacrilege.

ACMAT: I know well that the throne is a venerable place

From which nothing can come out lest it is adorable, And it is true that the kings are gods,

Their voice is an oracle arrested in Heaven.

But just as the pity of human misery Disarms quite often the divine anger, A Prince can and must revoke his decrees, When it is in the best interest of a Nation.

One does not contradict, one begs, one reprimands, And a wise King decides, in favor or against.

SOLIMAN: Speak, speak, Acmat, I am listening willingly,

To your thoughts I submit my love.

Like to a Dictator it is the utmost happiness, Not to accept laws from anyone but himself, I know that his unhappiness is unparalleled When he does not surrender to the laws of reason.

ACMAT: Victorious Prince in whom Heaven puts together

Goodness, strength and wisdom.

Vigilant in sleep, unrelenting in dangers,

Respected in your Nations, but feared by foreigners,

Who, in order to live for us, died for himself

Since your head had been crowned with a Diadem. Until now, by your efforts, your country has tasted Perfect sweetness of happiness,

And in order to provide it with such prosperity,

You would often put its interests ahead of your own,

And make yourself miserable

So that your people justly deliberate

Whether they should call you their Master or their Father: And of the felicities which we all enjoy

The most significant is to be loved by you.

Although undeserving such great and desirable honor, In former times, we considered it nonetheless more durable When tired of preoccupations and away from dangers, You rejoiced in transient pleasures,

And several beauties invading your thoughts Cleansed your spirit of its past sorrows.

But seeing now that a single beauty Retains in her love your infatuated mind, By offering her the Royal authority You become weaker in order to make her your equal.

Our respect for you is too important to complain to you. But this deceptive love, this corrupted Demon Which takes possession of the honor of an exiled soul, The tyranny of which defies you insolently Transforming you from an Emperor into a slave of a slave, Yes, Master, that love which has enthralled you, Troubles my mind with these thoughts.

This tyrant entangles you to the point of contempt,

That even your enemies take advantage of it,

And those who only thought of warding off your attacks Are now in a position of triumphing over you.

Would it be true, Master, that your wisdom Confessed its weakness to fortune?

I am imploring that you, the conqueror of so many nations Not let yourself be vanquished by your passions.

Reset your mind and let the renown,

Which boasts the exploits of your armed hand,

Also praise the strength that your reason will have To deliver its soul, and to shatter its prison.

I know that by this speech I risk my head,

But, Master, please, here it is ready,

I will die in glory. My faith would be blemished,

If I were not able to survive in my King’s honor.

SOLIMAN: You are obliging me, Acmat, and it does not displease me,

But you speak of Kings, as if they were common people,

If it is true that they are Kings, their supreme power Cannot be conceived by the mind of a mortal.

Know that their power is like light

Which remains undivided to the Sun that emanates it

And although Roxelana shares my greatness,

Do you believe that my glory is consequently losing its splendor?

On the contrary, by twisting its fate,

I want my renown to triumph for many years,

May these enemy Kings know that above them,

I can in one moment raise to eminence whoever I want,

And that the true signs of magnificence

Are to put a slave above Monarchs:

But the borrowed glory needs support,

To make one person more powerful than another,

For my people I love her, and the love of a woman

Will never efface the friendship of my soul.

I treasure two objects alternately, each in a different way, Friendship of my people, love of Roxelana.

ACMAT: Love is the enemy that friendship should fear.

SOLIMAN: I am her protector who cannot subdue his feelings,

Judge of the destiny of a thousand nations

I can easily reconcile the two weak passions.

ACMAT: It is true that love is weak in its infancy,

But as soon as a heart dissents from its power,

It reigns as a tyrant, and never leaves

Except in happiness or in disquietude.

SOLIMAN: Whatever it is, Acmat, forgive me for loving.

ACMAT: You are offending yourself. Forgive yourself.

SOLIMAN: Acmat, your temerity worries me tremendously,

But since my reasoning does not satisfy you

Summon Roxelana so that her presence

Much better than my discourse can speak in her defense. ACMAT: I submit to your wish, Master.

SOLIMAN: Go, Ormin, go.

And do not tell her why you are summoning her.

ORMIN: Uncontrollable Master.

ACMAT: Since my reasoning is condemned,

I am abandoning my obstinate thoughts.

I submit to you, Master, and am ready in front of you

To adore Roxelana on my knees,

If, in order to better raise her to the rank of sovereign You wish to marry her as a Queen.

SOLIMAN: This speech surprises me, but do not assume

That Soliman’s heart would ever be sad.

I know how to keep both my rank and my love together. ACMAT: Your rank and your love have nothing in common. SOLIMAN: The love that I offer her is on the condition

That she shall be modest in her ambition.

ACMAT: As much as your rank should not permit her anything, Your love of your children seems to permit her everything.

SOLIMAN: I love them, that is true, but I love more the laws Which make legitimate Kings out of legitimate children, By respect of the ancient laws,

I want to oblige the future generation to respect mine. Finally I know how to maintain intact

The laws that Bayezid^[578] passed on in his testament.

And this is what compels me to break the silence.

I can no longer suffer that an individual in front of me Criticizes without a reason his King’s choices, That Acmat points out your flaws and weaknesses, Feeling neither shame nor remorse.

Far from the dealings and the rumors at the Court

I am quite ignorant in matters of love:

But the condition of an Emperor is worse Than that of any minor subject in his Empire, If it is true that it is not permitted to prominent Kings And to their subjects to gain friends,

Then friendship, Acmat, this laudable virtue,

For them only, is a condemnable crime.

Get out, get out Acmat, of this absurdity Which convinces you of an error or infidelity.

ACMAT: Master, do not believe that I would ever question

That friendship is a divine virtue,

But prominent Kings would be equal to their subjects

If the objects of their love were not more noble.

The Princes’ friendship is to love their peoples,

Their provinces and their confederates.

In order to live happily, each individual

May join in friendship a particular person,

But the Kings are public figures,

And royal souls, should seek friends of equal rank.

MUFTI: The Emperor is then wrong to have raised you

From misery to greatness where you are now.

ACMAT: A King rewarding those who serve him

Does not do it because he loves them, but to do justice. SOLIMAN: But, Acmat, Roxelana is approaching.

ACMAT: Master, I submit to your will and lay down my arms. SOLIMAN: Do not let her know anything about this conversation.

ACT II, scene 2

(Soliman, Roxelana, the Mufti, Acmat, Ormin)

SOLIMAN: At last you are honoring me with your gracious presence. ROXELANA: My soul is destined to please you,

Master, I come here to obey your commandments.

SOLIMAN: Keeping inside the desire which oppresses it,

Your soul cannot express its sadness.

ROXELANA: Nature, Master, is endowed with powerful laws

Which cannot force either the fate or the Kings.

It wanted to settle my moods, but in such a way

That melancholy is always the strongest,

Yet, despite your favors and contrary to reason My bewitched heart retains this poison.

SOLIMAN: By nature, you consider yourself restrained, but wrongly so.

All sadness comes from desire or from fear:

But what could have caused you to fear so much,

And what prevents you from hoping?

Do you not know well that in the position where you are,

You see under your feet storm and tempest,

That in your mind you cannot make wishes

Which my love would not promptly grant you.

Find out the reason of your suffering, know that I love you, Ask, command, proceed.

You must fear nothing and dare everything, Cowardly demands are often refused.

ROXELANA: Master, if my reason were not weakened

When blood is vanquished by melancholy,

The rank with which your love wanted to honor me Would keep me in a state of desiring nothing, But, Master, this is why I feel sorry for myself, Neither the vanities of the Court, nor this supreme honor, Nor the moment in which I am granted your affection Have ever given me ultimate joy.

I do not know what always opposes my pleasures, My weak reason cannot find the cause of it, If it is not the earth with all its treasures, Which can only satisfy corporeal pleasure, And the mind created for heavenly desires Outside its center only sees fateful objects. This is what makes me sad and this thinking Seems to reprimand me for my imperfect judgment, For having given my heart to short-lasting pleasures, Even though it could have acquired more durable treasures, For having believed in finding true good things here And for having loved the earth more than Heaven: This is why from now on my thinking is better informed And wants to change its course, if you permit it, And make every effort to please you, Majesty, And also to please the divinity,

If your goodness gives me permission to do it, For heavens’ sake I will make a useful contribution: But whoever asks for too much deserves to be rejected, I do not dare justify myself.^[579] SOLIMAN: You are confusing me,

And this discourse accuses you of impertinence,

Or me of little love, or of little power, What can Roxelana finally ask for? What does Soliman not want or cannot grant? Besides your asking for my honor or my life My love can and want to satisfy your desires. What then are you asking for? A Kingdom?

ROXELANA: Ha! much less,

I limit, Master, both my wishes and my desires,

And my wish is to be granted

A permission to build a temple,

To build a hospital, to create altars,

Where one can in my name serve the immortals.

That is all I want.^[580]

SOLIMAN: Ha! extreme weakness,

Simple woman or rather the very simplicity.

This is asking too little of a generous Prince, Especially when he is in love.

But since your temper leads you to this desire, Though not worthy of me, you shall obtain it, Father, you happen to be here

This is a pious work, take care of it,

May this temple be such that art and nature Compete about the honor of its architecture, May art embellish and present to our eyes Nature’s most precious things,

At last I wish to engrave for the Ottoman’s glory What Soliman can do, what Roxelana wants to do, But let us hurry.

MUFTI: Master, this is an undertaking

Which should not have entered the mind of a sane person. Build a temple in favor of a slave?

This unprecedented enterprise is not within reason. SOLIMAN: Why not?

MUFTI: A slave depends on another person

And whatever he can do, he does nothing for himself, Divine service is of no benefit to him,

His Master alone has the grace and merit of it.

And although Roxelana has the favor of a King,

She still remains a slave and may not do anything by herself. SOLIMAN: Father, so you consider my request uncivil?

MUFTI: It is not uncivil, but it is useless.

SOLIMAN: Is it not at all possible to solve this problem? MUFTI: I can only see one solution.

SOLIMAN: What?

MUFTI: It is her freedom.

You may, if you wish, liberate her from slavery

And make her enjoy the fruit of her work.

SOLIMAN: So be it, in her favor and for the sake of her freedom,

I renounce all my rights of sovereignty.

ROXELANA: What are you saying Master? Liberate me from slavery?

In this freedom I find harm.

By doing that you deprive me of my greatest happiness, Since my servitude determines my honor.

From the glorious chains of this exemplary slavery,

I draw my greatness and receive my prestige.

No, no, I am not leaving, no, no, I belong to my King. SOLIMAN: No, no, you are free, you are no longer mine. ROXELANA: Since it is my Master’s order,

May he give me to myself: I am giving myself back to him,

And I only want from him this freedom

To die as a slave.

SOLIMAN: But I only want obedience from you,

That you will live freely outside my power.

Whatever you may say, you are arguing in vain.

ROXELANA: With these words, you show your magnanimity. SOLIMAN: Father, make haste to build this temple

Which shall be a true image of my magnificence.

Let her choose a site, you, Acmat, follow me.

This is an important endeavor for which I demand your assistance.

ACT II, scene 3

(Roxelana, the Mufti)

ROXELANA: Fortune, obedient to our wishes until now,

Promises to crown our endeavors with success,

Father what do you say about this initiative?

MUFTI: Although it seems admirable, I still fear it.

ROXELANA: Fate would not have shown me her true face,

Had it not been to save my boat from sinking.

MUFTI: Fear her fickleness until it reaches the port

If it were not fickle, it would not be strong.

ROXELANA: I believe it is for me, the first sign

Of a happy outcome gives me hope.

I had told you that all immortals

Wanted to use their altars to serve me.

Did they not lend me their temple, and this sanctuary?

Did they not make me find my freedom easily?

Freedom which makes me equal to Soliman

In possessing the Ottoman Empire,

And carries my fortune to the height of glory.

MUFTI: But before the time comes when you can rejoice at your victory,

Hope, but fear, entering a combat

The end of which elevates you, or brings you down, Which, leading you to the throne, or to destruction, Gives you either glory or torment.

Whoever by force or by artifice wants to gain the throne, Must be determined to win or to die.

Let him wait, without abandoning the hope of retreat Where it is either complete victory or complete defeat. Nonetheless whatever great suffering may happen to you Having started well, try to finish even better, Do not miss the opportunity, which presents itself to you. ROXELANA: It is not very far, one only has to wait for it:

But, my dear confidant, do not abandon me. MUFTI: I will not abandon you even in death.

ACT V, scene 1

(Circassa, Acmat)

CIRCASSA^[581]: On this day when Heaven must show to my sorrow

Either its ultimate grace or its ultimate condemnation,

Should I, full of hope, take it or leave it,

Should I rejoice or should I despair?

The dangerous state in which I see my rival

Gives me equal reason to weigh both,

When I think, Acmat, that Heaven allowed

That today I am involved in such a scandal, And that the King fired up with legitimate wrath, Summons the Advisors to be the judges of the crime. I have the right to wait for the happy outcome, Which would bring an enamored Monarch back to me, But when my uncertain soul grapples again with the thought, That in his favor love is still fighting hatred,

That Roxelana’s mind is full of tricks and ruses,

I fear something that I cannot foresee. ACMAT: May I, or rather, must I let you hear

A rumor which is spreading around and which I just heard. CIRCASSA: What, my dear Acmat?

ACMAT: I fear.

CIRCASSA: Nothing will surprise me.

ACMAT: It is rumored among the people and even at the court

That Soliman, urged by his utmost love,

And realizing that the law forbids him to act upon it, Found another way.

CIRCASSA: What?

ACMAT: Marry her.

CIRCASSA: Who?

ACMAT: Roxelana.

CIRCASSA: Oh God, you are announcing to me my misfortune,

One must not doubt it any more, the ruse has been discovered. I see clearly, but too late, and in vain

That all she had done had only one purpose. Unfortunate Mustapha, ill-fated Circassa Will you see without dying the ruse come to fruition? No, no, we have to die rather than see it, Let fears and suspicions yield to despair.

ACMAT: But why make you heartbroken before finding out, Perhaps this rumor is not true,

The Advisors gathered here,

In no time will verify these suspicions. When unhappiness afflicts us so strongly, It is then that we must fight more courageously And we must show to the harsh fate

That whoever has a heart, will never be unhappy. As for me, may Heaven make my head fall By a strike of a lightning or a blow of a storm, I shall die honorably while still fighting, And if you believe me, you will do the same thing.

CIRCASSA: Through your counsel, Acmat, my soul is lifted up, Let us fight until the end the evil that oppresses us. I concur with the Advisors to oppose Whoever shall open the marriage debate, And as much as they close doors to women They can only make me leave dead.

But Mustapha, my son: here is the Emperor, Let what follows confirm my suspicion.

ACT V, scene 2

(Soliman, Circassa, Acmat, the Mufti, Rustan, Ormin, Osman)

SOLIMAN: Friends, whose heroism and experience

Strengthen my crown, assure my power,

And who share with me the reign over so many nations

Of which I am the head, and you are the hands and the arms, After so many battles, shattered fortifications, Thrones brought down, and grandeurs struck down. Having nothing more to defeat, it seemed from then on That the universe forced us to make peace, But Hell, enraged to see that in war

Everything was succumbing to the blows of our scimitar,^[582] Was in vain making plans against my glory,

When of his subversive advocates I was making my subjects. When Hell saw the happiness of my life

Impenetrable to the blows it was so eager to inflict,

It provoked me with enemies even stronger Than the entire universe it saw submitted to me.

It found in this heart bigger than the whole world What it could not find on Earth or in the seas.

In me my enemies, my powerful enemies,

All the more that the soul is above the senses,

A war more than civil, and which goes to the extreme:

A King conquerer of all except himself. Decide where this sedition can lead, One passion overwhelms another passion. Indecisiveness forces patience,

The tenderness of the heart opposes vengeance,

And in my mind triumphing by turns

Pity, anger, hatred and love.

However, I wage these wars,

I help enemies, who ravage my land, Even though they all want my destruction,.

I am nonetheless leader of each faction.

And as if I were the enemy of my soul,

I forbid if from resting and I bring flame into it.

Father if your advice does not heal

The many torments, which afflict my mind,

This heart that neither the assaults of besieged cities,

Nor the fights and waged battles,

Nor even unhappiness could make fall

Is now conquered by itself and ready to surrender.

MUFTI: I violate the laws which respect imposes upon me,

But you speak of effect without mentioning the cause, How can we know an evil hidden deep inside Which only appears to us by random chance?

SOLIMAN: What are you saying to me? My wound is so deep

That I fear dying from it,

But I have to do it: do not doubt it,

In one word Roxelana causes all these combats

You know how much I loved this rebel,

Today her misdeeds make her a criminal

And although she is a criminal,

Despite all those wrongdoings she pleases me and captivates me.

MUFTI: This war, Master, is for you a field of glory,

You can achieve a great victory.

Fight, only fight, and by doing so

Your virtue will elevate itself to perfection.

The victory of the universe is quite common,

Among you, your soldiers, and even fortune,

But here you can do all alone as much as everybody else And this will be enough to make you a winner,

Rid yourself of these passions whose force controls

Only those who submit to them and fears only those who despise them.

In order to win this war, a generous man Needs only say, I want to do it.

SOLIMAN: Pompous speech, magnificent words,

Great for the discourse, but of pointless use.

Instead of giving me advice on how to heal my wound, Father, you are giving me advice on how to die.

I love my passions and I live by their flame,

I no longer have another heart, another blood, nor another soul Neither do I want to lose them forever,

But I would like to put in between them a nation

I love passionately and you know it,

The woman whose refusal compels me to vengeance,

And who says that the laws forbid her to love

A Monarch who loves her and whom she managed to charm.

Tell me if this excuse is legitimate

And if this reasoning is not a criminal act,

Reconcile, if you can, my love and the law,

If you do not want to see your King die

In the name of Mahomet, Father, I beg you.

MUFTI: I find myself perplexed when confronted with this situation,

This complicated affair presents from all sides

To my confused mind a thousand difficulties.

Roxelana, being free and on her own,

The Koran forbids you to love and desire her.

Without displeasing the Prophets and violating the Laws

You may not love her as you did before.

SOLIMAN: Me, never enjoy the pleasure of loving her?

MUFTI: Here your speech touches me deeply.

I see that this love ignites your passion to the point

Of having to possess her or no longer live

But my mind is also weak

In finding useful advice for you.

CIRCASSA: How the traitor pretends; Acmat, do you not see

How he misleads the King, how he sets a snare.

MUFTI: Thanks to a certain thought that comes to my mind

We can give remedy to your wounded soul,

And without contradicting either Heaven, or its rules, Reconcile love and the Laws.

However, the remedy with the most unpleasant taste

Is often the most beneficial to the patient: Hence, by this slightly inauspicious method Your love and the Laws can be reconciled, You can rejoice in the love of Roxelana Without violating the laws of conscience.

SOLIMAN: Why are you so slow in offering this remedy to me? CIRCASSA: What is he going to say?

MUFTI: You can marry her.

SOLIMAN: Marry a slave, what are you saying, Father!^[583] MUFTI: The remedy is harmful, but it is salutary,

Master, of the two, which one is not worthy of you,

Having been born a slave or being a spouse of one?

ACMAT: Is it possible, Heaven, that Soliman would bear

Such a great injury inflicted to his glory

That in favor of a slave, laws would be violated To make her ascend to the throne of our Kings? This treachery, Master, planned for a long time Unveiled in front of you without being thwarted. Do you not see that this holiness,

This Temple, these Altars, and this freedom, All these refusals to love which Roxelana made Were aimed at the Ottoman’s crown?

And do you not see that in order to confuse you, They quote the Law, which forbids to love, But wanting passionately to see her crowned, They silence the law, which prohibits marriage? Thus this impostor that Roxelana instructs

Says everything that suits her, silences everything that harms her. MUFTI: I do not get offended by these discourses which,

Pronounced by Acmat, vilify my life.

And speaking in front of a King

Who knows whether Acmat or myself serve him better. It is true that the laws in this nation do not include Queens, But Acmat, these laws are only human, For common interest they can be repealed, And since a King made them, a King can change them, But the divine Laws are sacred Laws,

They must be inviolable.

The human Law does not allow the Ottoman Princes

To ever become spouses, but only lovers And Heaven forbids the same Princes to love, A free woman, outside their power.

In the end decide, Master, which one will prevail

The earthly Law or the Heavenly Law?

SOLIMAN: Which of the three will have more power over my soul Honor, love, or conscience?

To marry a slave is a flawed piece of advice Which deprives me of honor in order to please love, No, no, let us rather follow a contrary opinion, May she, who does not want my love, face my wrath. She will die in disgrace, Ormin, But if love is opposed to death, This traitor [i.e., death] in her favor, Joins reason to quell my anger,

And before my justice and against all my rights.

For her, we must speak about the authority of the Laws: But the Laws are against her; is she not subject to them? Must she contest what her King says?

A subject must always obey: but a King

Must not command to her but what the Law dictates.

Contradictory feelings, which are present within my soul, Sweetness is against me and suffering is killing me Without a remedy I cannot bear my hardship, And medicine makes it even worse

Either treachery, or reason, or truth, or pretense, Excruciate my mind from all directions, Coerce me into loving while disregarding the Law A free person who depends upon herself. But will I be able to extinguish this sweet flame Which kills my body and afflicts my soul? In order to appease this amorous ardor Will I follow this fatal advice?

Marry a slave against the Law?

The Law is only human, but I love a slave. Human and divine Laws, love and majesty

Will you always hold me in this extreme confusion?

But why even think, may Heaven decide Yield, human Law, yield to Heavenly law, Yield, the interest of the nation, yield to God’s will, Yield, proud grandeur to the impact of two beautiful eyes, Yield, yield finally, false splendor, vain glory The fight is over, love is the winner.

Bring her here.

CIRCASSA: O marvels of the Kings,

I embrace your knees for the last time.

The last favor which I ask of you

Is my death, it is the end of my unfortunate fate, Death which will make me happy after what I see If it can be granted to me by the order of my King, I lay my life before you

And if you want to grant me death,

May the death of my son accompany my fate.

Master, have mercy on Mustapha

Let him die in combat, and not by hanging, Let him die from a sword, not by poisoning,^[584] Let him die by your orders, and not by treachery And do you not see the deceitful conclusion And the tragedy to which this marriage leads, Marriage which Roxelana uses To elevate her children above mine.

In order to accomplish it, her supporters

Come to you to encourage this infamous marriage.

And to satisfy her ambitions

The Laws are interpreted as she pleases.

But, Master, go back to your origins, Remember, that you belong to a divine race Of Mahomet’s blood and of so many Kings, Having their throne, at least respect their Laws. But if, despite the honor and the Ottoman’s glory, You decide to marry Roxelana, In order not to see my King’s shame I demand death for myself and my son.

RUSTAN: What, Master, endure such insolence?

What, accuse you of lack of prudence?

Do not speak any more, Master, of sovereignty

Since one can act against your will, Well, do not lose sight of the maxime

If one opposes the sovereign, one commits a crime.^[585] CIRCASSA: All that my reason attempts uselessly,

Your treachery does it effectively,

The crime committed by artifice and imputed to me

Will let my enemies triumph over my fall,

And their power to influence the King’s thoughts is so strong, That even with my prayer I am refused death Master, grant me this last wish.

SOLIMAN: Your life is mine and I will take care of it.

CIRCASSA: And Master, could you defend it against attacks

Of the woman whose treachery triumphed over you? SOLIMAN: Suffice it to say, I will take care of it, Circassa. CIRCASSA: What can an emperor, who has no credibility any more, do? SOLIMAN: Well, I see the object of my desire.

ACT V, scene (last)

(Soliman, Roxelana, the Mufti, Circassa, Acmat, Rustan, Ormin, Osman)

SOLIMAN: Come, chaste beauty, Queen of the Musulmans,

Come, Soliman’s legitimate wife.

CIRCASSA: Alas, I will be the victim of this marriage,

Mustapha’s blood will sign this contract,

Do not delay death, Circassa.

You who offer friendship in our unhappiness, Acmat, not being able to live, let us go die together.

ACMAT: Let us go and by a generous move let us show

That whoever knows how to die well is never unhappy.

ROXELANA: What are you doing, Master, this unforseen grace

Fills with awe my ear and my sight,

I, unhappy object of your resentment Who you wanted to plunge in distress, In one moment elevated to such supreme honor.

This is incredible and I doubt it myself, Where are you taking me?

SOLIMAN: To my throne, to my rank.

ROXELANA: Where no person of my rank has ever ascended, Master?

SOLIMAN: I say, come and take the crown

Which by the hands of love your virtue is giving you.

Reign over my people and give them the laws,

I give you half my rights,

And although the law seems to contradict it,

I name your children successors to the Empire.

Everybody else, since you are here

Take an oath of fidelity.

MUFTI: Master, I promise you all my loyalty

To live and to die obeying her.

SOLIMAN: What else do you want?

ROXELANA: In this high rank of honor

My weak mind cannot comprehend its happiness,

So many goods, which Heaven is sending me through your graciousness Make me almost die of shame and of joy,

But, Master, I protest Heaven and the law

To always give you honor that I owe you,

To live like a slave and not like a Queen

Like a humble subject and not like a sovereign.

THE END

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