Chapter 10 Prospero della Rovere Bonarelli, Soliman (1620)[565]

Foreword by Galina Yermolenko Translation from Italian by Virginia Picchietti

Prospero Bonarelli’s tragedy II Solimano, dedicated to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II, was performed in Florence in 1619 and published in 1620.

Bonarelli achieved considerable historical accuracy of Turkish life by drawing details of costumes and manners from Francesco Sansovino’s Turkish chronicle Dell'historia universale dell'origine et imperio de Turchi (Venice, 1561).^[568] Yet the world of Il Solimano is universal due to its neoclassical genre. The neoclassical emphasis on verisimilitude led to the abandonment of long philosophical soliloquies and choruses of the Senecan drama, and, instead, the introduction of numerous confidants into the play.

Roxolana appears here just as “Regina” [‘Queen’], and Soliman as King of Thrace, although the action still takes place in Aleppo, Turkey. Acmat, Rusten, and Osman are Turkish stock characters that had appeared in earlier tragedies of the Soliman-Mustapha cycle: Rusten is usually Soliman’s “evil” adviser and son-in­law, who conspires with the Queen; Osman is Rusten’s relative and henchman; and Acmat is Soliman’s “good” adviser, who often speaks against Roxolana (the Queen in the play) and in favor of Mustapha (“Mustafa” in the play). Other characters, such as Adrasto, Aluante, Aidina, or Alicola, as well as various messengers, have more European (Italian) names and seem to be Bonarelli’s inventions who perform the functions of confidant(e)s and couselors on which the action in neoclassical dramas heavily depended.

Bonarelli also introduced several innovations into the known Roxolana- Mustapha plot, such as the substitution of royal offspring (which was a common theme in the Italian tragic theater of the seicento) and a romantic love between Mustafa and Despina, daughter of a Persian King. Much of the intrigue is thus based on Soliman’s fear of his son’s potential betrayal in favor of his archenemy, the Persian Shah.

Translated below are the last two scenes of Act IV, which show the Queen’s horrible discovery of her lost son, and the entire Act V, which features the catastrophic unfolding of the tragic action.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

SOLIMAN, King of the Thracians RUSTEN, King’s son-in-law ACMAT, Soliman’s counselor OSMAN, Rusten’s relative MUSTAFA, Soliman’s son ADRASTO, Mustafa’s lieutenant ORMUSSE, rector and Mustafa’s counselor DESPINA, Persian King’s daughter ALUANTE, Despina’s minister QUEEN, Soliman’s wife QUEEN’S NURSEMAID AIDINA, Mustafa’s nursemaid ALICOLA, Mustafa’s servant

ACT IV, scene 10

(Queen, Aidina, Alicola)

QUEEN: And so even outside the royal residence

I am overcome by a strange feeling and new horror

As soon as the imprudent Prince arrives.

I feel renewed pity in my breast over his impending death,

And my heart refuses to gain pleasure from it

Even when reason says I should.

5 Kennard, The Italian Theatre from Its Beginning to the Close of the Seventeenth Century, 1: 198.

But I should transfer

The pity I feel for him

To myself. Others should not think me unjust

If to save my life and the life of my beloved children,

I wished the death of the other,

Without which there was neither escape nor defense. ALICOLA: Alas, do you hear this Aidina?

Does she delay because of us?

AIDINA: May you always live happily, dear Queen.

QU. 6: May Heaven hear you, good women. And what

Brings you before me now? What do you wish?

AID.: We ask a favor,

Noble Lady.

QU.: Please ask, ask,

Because nothing can make me refuse Your wish.

AID.: The glorious echo

Of your goodness, which resounds everywhere,

Has encouraged us

To ask and to hope for worthy assistance:

We beg you,

The source of all compassion,

To spare the life

Of the person whose death you perhaps until now had reason To desire.

After we reveal strange secrets about this person,

Your heart will surely

Manifest, if still possible, the right affection, And show pity without much harm to yourself.

QU.: Please explain what you are saying.

Tell me, who is this person?

AID.: Noble Queen,

It is the person upon whom Heaven

Has perchance wished death,

Not, I think, because of the perceived error,

But so that he will not inherit this Kingdom,

Not being its true and just heir.

Though it is certain too, that, not knowing his true identity, He is innocent still.

I am referring to the Prince, you see,

Although he is no longer Prince, and actually no longer

6 In keeping with the original Italian text, names and titles will be abbreviated after their first appearance.

Even Mustafa, because the name is false.

His status is also different,

For as Heaven did not bestow upon him a Royal fate, He must live as subject, and without a Kingdom. Sovereign Queen,

For Heaven, for earth,

For your own life and that of your sons,

I submit myself to you, weeping,

And beg and implore you

To be kind, and to piously Save his life with your prayers.

May the sorrowful state of myself, nursemaid,

And my fellow servant,

Both of us unhappy in our maternal love, Move you to pity.

Guided by maternal affection, We have always kept abreast of his Fate and movements.

QU.: Rise, wretched women. My Heart

Is moved and touched by your pain;

And it seems distressed

Sensing your unending suffering.

Nevertheless, whoever the Prince may be,

I do not foresee any hope for his well-being.

AID.: Oh powerful Queen,

Nothing can refute your will;

If you will it, he is saved.

QU.: Then help me understand

How you can be so certain

That he is not the heir of this Kingdom.

AID.: Tell me, Queen, is it not certain and undeniable

That only Soliman’s sons will inherit

This Kingdom’s sceptre?

QU.: This is true.

AID.: Then Mustafa’s right hand

Will never bear the weight of that sceptre.

QU.: What are you saying?

Is he not the King of the Thracians' first son?

AID.: He is not, my Queen.

QU.: Why do you mock me, audacious old woman?

Is this not the son to whom the Circassian

Gave birth exactly three days

Before I gave birth to my first?

AID.: Now listen to me carefully and hear the truth.

That child died the very same day

Your own son was born.

To not lose favor

In the Kingdom and in the heart

Of the King, where she occupied a happy place For having given birth to the Kingdom’s first heir, The Circassian silenced the cruel affair.

I secretly took the dead infant to Filandro,

An old and faithful servant,

Who followed my instructions

And quickly brought the child to those areas around

The City where foreigners reside

Separate from us.

He handed him over on my behalf

To be buried by this friend here, Who at the time was of a different faith.

He then asked that in return and as early As the next day,

She provide a live infant

To replace the dead one.

This she did, and the child

She gave me is the one

The Circassian then

Convinced the King, the Kingdom, the World, And even the child himself, was her own.

QU.: These are strange things.

But tell me, is this man then your son?

ALIC.: He is not my son, oh great Queen.

QU.: Then who

Were his parents?

ALIC.:I do not know.

QU.: Did you steal him perhaps? ALIC.: No, fate

Placed him in my arms.

QU.: I do not understand.

ALIC.: An entirely unknown woman gave him to me.

QU.: And why did she give him to you? ALIC.: So that I might bring him to the West,

In a City located among the waves

Where I was to wait,

Because one day she or someone sent by her would come For the boy.

QU.: What is all this, alas?

Tell me, did she give you anything else

Along with the child?

And did you give her anything in return?

ALIC.: I was given much gold and silver,

And precious materials and rich swaddling clothes;

And because she pleaded so vehemently

That I give her the dead infant whom she saw in my arms

(And it was the one that in that very place Had been sent to me), I gave him to her, And she left happily with him.

QU.: What am I hearing?

ACT IV, scene 11

(Queen, Queen’s Nursemaid, Alicola, Aidina)

QU.: Just in time, my nursemaid, You arrive just in time.

NURSEMAID: My lady, why

Do I find you so disturbed

When I myself come to you for encouragement?

QU.: Now tell me, woman, could you in your heart Recognize the woman who gave you the child, If she were to appear before you now?

ALIC.:Even though the passing years

Tend to take our memories with them,

I might be able to recognize the unknown woman now, Because at the time I secretly managed to Catch a glimpse of her face.

QU.: Come here quickly, then, my nursemaid,

And look at her carefully,

Tell me if you remember

Ever seeing her. Look And see if you recognize her.

NUR.:Her appearance, Queen,

Returns to my mind clearly, rather than confused.

ALIC.:My lady, I swear that this is the woman.

QU.: Alas!

ALIC.:My lady, it is she.

NUR.:Who? Who am I?

ALIC.:The one who entered Byzantium,

And now, exactly

Twenty years have passed

Since a live infant was strangely exchanged for a dead child. Do not marvel, and try to remember

How you found me

Sitting on the steps of my humble home,

With a dead infant in my lap;

And that after walking a few steps ahead

You turned to me and asked

For the little cadaver,

Offering me in his place a boy

Whom you had hidden in a small basket

In a bed of assorted flowers.

And try to recall how, after I fulfilled your wishes,

You asked that I swear to the Heavens

and promise to quickly

Take your child to the place where the Sun sets

And where a City rises high in the middle of the Sea.

But do you doubt me still? Are you still not

Convinced by what I say? Wait and watch,

For I shall take from my breast

A thing that is faithful to the real sign,

A thing I have brought with me

Thinking precisely

That it would serve me well in the undertaking For which we are now here.

Do you recognize it?

QU.: Oh Heavens. NUR.:What do I hear now? What do I see?

This is from the infant son’s

golden mantle,

The piece I had left, and you are the one

To whom I had given it. Now I recognize you completely. QU.: Oh poor, wretched me! Oh unhappy woman! Oh fate! NUR.:But why should this be a source

of sadness for you?

QU: Alas, nursemaid,

Alas I am dead. Tell me:

Where is the Prince now?

What has become of him?

NUR.:If he is still alive,

He lives in the arms of death and is dying.

What is your wish?

QU.: Run! Hurry! Let us be off! Come, women,

Follow this wretched woman! Oh Heaven help us, Arrest your course so that I might arrive in time.

NUR.:What will happen now?

AID.: Oh we poor wretches!

ALIC.: Ah fate!

ACT V, scene 1

(Ormusse, Messenger)

ORMUSSE: Ah, he was right when he said,

I would arrive late;

But alas, if I arrive late to prevent The desired death, with time at least I might be able to die with him as well. But who is this person whom I see Move hesitantly from the palace and with eyes cast downward To hide tears?

Those arms crossed over the breast,

Those arched brows,

That pale countenance,

That plaintive gait, alas, shows,

What pain and astonishment encumber him.

I would like to know,

But do not dare ask,

that which I fear hearing, that which I avoid knowing. MESSENGER: Oh fortune, oh fortune, oh Kingdoms, oh World.

Now by my inclination,

Seeing myself outside the cruel shelter,

I shall be able to weaken the breaks

To the sighs, the voices, the tears, the cries.

OR.: What am I hearing?

MESS.: What if it falls and ruins the Sky?

What if the sun sets in such a way, That it no longer returns to the East? What if irate winds do not set flight, And do not disperse the air? Is it the earth’s globe As big as it is, That is swallowed by the deep Sea?

OR.: Why do I torment myself by remaining in suspense?

Quickly tell me my friend,

Is Mustafa alive?

MESS.: Oh poor Ormusse, which blind fortune guides you to these foul places, Nests of treason, and pitiless, Where the noble fruit of your labors Lies felled, and lacerated in the earth? Poor fool, what do you ask? The prince is dead.

OR.: Alas, alas poor soul.

MESS.: And the unjust death

of the beautiful Despina,

Daughter of the King of the Persians, mistress, and bride, rendered his death even more crude, and cruel.

OR.: Alas, so that which has just been told me,

and I did not believe, is true?

But if Heaven allows, my dear friend,

Tell me, how I will die,

For, if my fate is indeed a happy one,

Be it that the knife

Of your tongue

Will ensure that by my death

No other trouble will rest in my hand.

MESS.: You will see, you will see, old man,

Events so fierce, and so horrible,

That will cause fear, and grave and mortal pain, To those who hear them;

And I, who was present,

And in whose mind

The fierce matter has been so impressed,

Can still see, and hear

Every act, every word,

And can unfortunately fully narrate every fact to you.

Once the Prince and, with him, the Princess arrived at the Palace,

The King welcomed them with such a smile,

That his face seemed blanketed

more by a flash of pride than by a grin,

And gushing he said: oh worthy couple

Of eminent spouses, may Heaven guide you, and preserve

The happiness I see in you; and in the meantime

They, genuflected prostrate at his feet,

Kissed them multiple times, and he looked

Around, and called Rusten to himself;

He whispered in his ear, and turned to

His son, and said: now take your bride

To her royal room,

To which Rusten will be the guide.

You will see me later, for an important matter,

That cannot wait, takes me from you.

They rose upon hearing this, and the humble Prince Set to

Reasoning with his father,

But with a sign the father ordered,

That he leave without a word,

And in the meantime the king himself

Moved quickly, and while his foot

Turned towards me, I saw his eyes,

Swell with tears,

From the bottom of his heart,

Driven here with force,

I know not if for disdain, or pity.

And, alas, I still well see in the same place

The Prince become upset, and turn pale,

But he still quickly obeyed, and took

His woman by the hand, and

Walked behind Rusten, and I with him,

Because the King ordered it, and others followed as well.

OR.: And so it is in this way, that the children,

Pure innocent lambs,

Together go to their sacrifice?

MESS.: We descended many flights of stairs, and once we reached the end

We entered a remote and very dark room,

Surrounded by old and naked walls.

Rusten stopped here, and gave orders,

So that some

Closed the doors, while others

Hurled themselves on the Prince, and others still on Despina,

And they were quickly bound up by a thousand knots;

Nothing helped them, neither force nor entreaties.

And the Prince, having already seen

The proud Minister with the naked sword in hand,

Said, turning to his mistress, and bride:

Oh most cherished part of my soul,

Here is the cruel sword,

Which will end life as it cuts the knot,

With which Love, and Heaven tied us together.

But why is it not enough,

He continued turned towards us,

For the atrocious blow to fall upon my head?

Why do you not forgive

The royal maiden?

Whose life cannot

Prevent anyone from attaining honors and ranks,

Nor take away the desired Empire from others.

Ah, forgive her now,

Forgive this wholly innocent woman,

If always having loved me

Has not already been charged

As a wrong, a sin.

OR.: Oh generous son.

MESS.: No, no, she answered,

I alone, I alone am

Guilty of your offences;

This is the innocent head,

That has impressed in it that face,

And because you like him,

The paternal ire was awakened against you,

He remains the only one punished, and beaten.

But the Prince is not appeased, so that between them,

In this way they vie for death,

And they could have

Made a Tiger’s heart shed tears.

But she too was taken

From that middle room, and in leaving

By the Prince’s side, gazed at him, and cried.

She wanted to embrace him, but, her arms tied

Behind her could not

Carry through the heart’s beautiful desire,

So she said crying: oh beloved husband,

I am so miserable;

I go towards death, and I am not permitted

In such a bitter parting,

From you, to leave as I would desire;

But because nothing else is possible,

At least my heart,

Which so loved you in life,

Will embrace you, dying.

Stabbed by pain, he

Did not reply, dumb, and pale,

But little, by little,

He looked at her,

And from his breathless breast

Let out silent sighs.

And it was then that, looking around me,

I saw everyone of us

Out of pity lift our eyes to the cries,

So that someone wished to cover the Royal maiden’s

Eyes with a white veil,

As she sat already kneeling, head bent,

Saying in a languid tone: oh God,

Why have I not even been granted

A brief moment,

To see my beloved’s face?

Loosen please, loosen,

For this piteous act

Is for me pitiless;

If you wish, for death

To frighten me less,

Allow, that I gaze

at the light of my life.

But the minister ready

To strike,

Only awaited a sign from Rusten,

Which was finally given;

And so in a flash

The cruel sword sings as it falls, and severs,

The honored head, sending it far,

So that it bounces three times, and at every bounce

Falls closer to the Prince, where I think

It was lead by lovers’ spirits;

And it seemed, that in bouncing

You could hear these words

Variously emitted:

Oh Husband, oh Father, oh God.

And so Despina died,

And that same blow,

That severed her head,

Cut the Prince’s heart, for which he would have fallen

If I had been less ready to sustain him;

But then when he saw,

Almost under his feet, the beloved head,

He broke the mortal silence, and cried out:

Ah sight, ah bitter sight.

Why? why the delay?

Here is the dear mouth,

That came to call me.

And impatient to die,

He runs where his expired love

Lay, her bust wrapped in blood,

And here rapt with rage he bows,

And gives himself

A formidable blow, to his naked neck;

And he cries: oh wounds,

Wounds sever by now,

What use is there in delaying? why am I not yet dead?

You could hear then in the room

A murmur of plaintive sobs,

That caused even Rusten to cry;

That proud Minister,

Moved by fear, and grief, and remorse,

Casts the unjust blow,

So that the wounded Prince

Of the rough and mortal wound,

Drowns in his blood.

In that horrible spot

He already loses his invincible heart,

But his dying lights,

Made smiling and happy in their fall,

Said: oh in dying blissful eyes

You can at last now

See, since every other way has been denied you,

My blood united and mixed with that of my woman.

But this last sound

He did not entirely express,

For his soul, taking sudden leave, cut it off.

OR.: Alas, alas it is really true.

But where friend, where

Do I have to turn to witness

The atrocious spectacle

Of the dear lifeless son?

MESS.: Ah poor man, what do you desire?

Perhaps to see

The frightful display

Of Death’s triumph?

Or perhaps cruelty’s sole example?

But this you desire in vain,

Because in parting Rusten

Left many guarding the site.

Change your thoughts, and remain here,

For I must leave,

I must follow, where pain leads me.

OR.: Oh unfortunate old man,

Therefore even in such misery

A woeful comfort is still denied me?

But if my unfavorable fate

Today denies me every thing, in the end

It will not deny me death, which is granted to everyone.

ACT V, scene 2

(Soliman, Acmat)

SOLIMAN: Alas, royal fortune

Is in a sad state, subject

To others’ will and to others’ advice,

Which so rarely yield a faithful soul.

Alas Soliman; Soliman, alas!

What will you do if the Queen Does not arrive in time To repair the damage done?

What will become of you? But quick, someone

Run! Hurry and find out

Why the Queen takes so long.

Here is my old friend. But his expression, alas,

Confuses and greatly saddens me.

ACMAT: Sire, a fierce and muddled din, most unpleasant to the ears, Resounds of new and frightening orders and strange happenings. And now that I find you here,

So pensive and mournful and virtually alone,

I think some extreme misfortune may have befallen you.

Now, Sire, if I may be so bold

To ask that you reveal the truth to me,

So that I may at least immediately

And loyally marry my sentiments to what is happening to you. Tell me, is it true that you sentenced

Those unfortunate royal youths to death?

SOL.: Alas it is true, but in this way

I have deceived myself infinitely more than others.

AC.: So you learned of

Your son’s innocence and the other’s deception?

And that the Queen accused

Him herself,

And then discovered

Through strange means

That Mustafa was her own son?

SOL.: This is all true.

Precisely after having looked in vain for me in various parts Of the Royal Palace,

She arrived (only a short while ago) in the room

Where I, immersed in grief and horror, had retreated alone, away from everyone. With a broken and frightening voice, And before saying anything else, she implored me to Immediately suspend the sentence, Because she had strange things to tell me. I did what she requested, whereupon, crying, She told me everything in brief, While two foreign women and the nursemaid Swore that the facts were indeed true.

The Nursemaid, however, then also fully revealed

The letter’s deceptions, until then

Unknown to the Queen herself.

Aluante was also present, and, after

Hearing about

The traps and the means used to set them,

Revealed, causing more shrieks and cries,

That he himself was the cause of the initial trouble:

He himself had today

Torn those pages

From which, as the Nursemaid said,

Rusten had derived the imprint and the name of King Tamas With which he had falsified the letter.

With heart dazed and anguished

I urge and command that we hurry

Without delay to prevent

The crude effects of those unjust deaths.

But the Queen, herself impatient,

Has run, and has not yet returned,

So I fear, alas,

That she has arrived there too late.

AC.: Alas, Heaven’s will and decrees

Are so abstruse and difficult to understand.

Who among mortals,

With their feeble intelligence,

Can extract the truth from such a deep abyss?

ACT V, scene 3

(Second Messenger, Soliman, Acmat)

MESSENGER: Poor, wretched me! Cruel fortune!

SOL.: What woeful and sorrowful voice

Comes from the Palace and wounds my heart so?

It is the Queen’s servant

Who comes crying, and I can only imagine what trouble he heralds.

AC.: Sire, stand strong against Fortune,

And arm your breast with your royal strength

To endure its blows and fury.

MESS.: Oh Sire, what announcement

Must this wretched Messenger bring you!

The Princes have died, and trouble grows.

Soon your sad and moribund consort

Will come before you with a trembling and weary gait.

SOL.: Oh endless misfortunes, I cannot

Bear them all again without my heart

Breaking and my dying.

AC.: Temper your pain, sire,

Temper it. Stop the contemptible voices.

Who knows if he really

Tells the truth? Tell us, servant, how

The fact happened and how you came to know it?

MESS.: I followed the Queen,

Who ran quickly, and with her I reached

The miserable place.

When she saw the door closed

And guarded by many,

She yelled from a distance: Open up,

Guards! Open the door for me! And they obeyed her.

But as soon as she passed the threshold

And saw (alas, a terrible sight)

A sea of blood

In which two severed busts

Were immersed, and then

Not far two heads,

Horrid and soiled with blood and dust,

She let out a dreadful scream.

And at one point, furious at seeing her son’s decapitated head, She fell to the ground,

And washed it with her streaming tears. Her wailing and screaming Resounded throughout the place.

But then finding her voice, she said: Son,

My son, in what condition do I find you?

Did I try to save your life through someone else’s hands

Only to kill you myself? Oh misery,

Oh wretched me, who delays my own death now?

Only death could Completely fulfill

The veiled troubles foretold by the cards.

So why do I not die now?

What pleasure

Gives life the most joy?

How can I enjoy motherhood

If I murder my own children?

How can I delight in being a Queen

If the Kingdom is the cause of all my troubles?

How can I take pleasure in this World

If the World holds me in disdain and is horrified of me?

It is time to die, to die,

She added. And all of a sudden

She rose, swept the candlelight around the room,

And not seeing any other sword,

Lunged for this one.

But I quickly moved back, and she said:

Ungrateful servant,

You cannot prevent me from realizing such a beautiful deed!

She then put her hand in her hair,

Pulled out a small, shining gold vial,

Quickly brought it

To her lips, and drank from it.

SOL.: It was poison,

Which causes irreversible death.

MESS.: And so I thought, because at that moment

The foreign women, the nursemaid, and Aluante arrived.

The nursemaid exclaimed

Over the Queen’s act: Alas, my Lady,

Alas daughter, you are dead!

And she herself fainted.

The old man ran to Despina and the other women to the Prince,

And, tearing out their hair

And with their nails scratching new bloody furrows

Into their wrinkled cheeks,

Filled the Heavens

With unconsolable voices and sobs.

The sound of violent wails

Joined to the sound of pounding hands

Made that place sound like a suffering hell.

The Queen, feeling herself slowly languish,

Took her son’s cherished head in her hands

And said: Now that my cruel fate

Has prevented me from

Being with you in life,

I want it to concede to me

That you at least be with me in death. Let us go then. Who will support me As I make my way to be in My beloved consort’s presence?

I want to die there,

I want to breath my soul into his breast.

So, sustained by her women, She comes forth in slow steps

And can no longer wait. Here she is, Sire. SOL.: Oh, what a scene, what a sight!

AC.: Sire, may this remind you

That you are Soliman:

This is the final proof of your virtue; Your valor is consummated here.

ACT V, scene 4^[569]

(Queen, Soliman, Acmat)

QU.: Dear merciful Women,

Hold on tightly to the falling corpse,

And help me support

The delicate weight of this severed head,

Which weighs heavily on my weak arm.

I see the King. Soliman,

Wipe your tear-filled eyes and look here,

Look at our son,

Whom I took away from you two times, and from me as well,

The one time with compassion, the other with ruthlessness and cruelty, And both times blindly and foolishly.

I have come to give him to you, but alas I cannot!

SOL.: Wretched me.

QU.: Here, I will give him back to you,

Even though cruel destiny returned him to me,

Or better still, my proud will.

But, sweet Sire,

As I have sought vengeance against myself

For my failures and the offenses we have suffered,

I implore you to take pity and temper

Your rightful ire and just disdain.

Do not wish that my soul

Wander tormented among the spirits,

Pursued by these furies.

Let me die reassured of this,

And you shall live as happily

As Heaven and your destiny allow.

I place our son Selim and his fate

Into your hands, for, alas,

I can no longer go on.

I feel anguish in my breast,

And I hear the beating wings

Of a fleeting soul. Lord, I am dying.

SOL.: Oh unhappy me!

Oh you wretched Woman! my beloved son!

Fortune has been pitiless and cruel to us all.

Oh Queen, Queen,

How could the well-being of one son

Compel you to harm the other?

And then, unwilling to live

You quickened your own death.

Oh you unhappy, unfortunate mother.

But you, my innocent son, in what state do I see you?

Oh head worthy of forever breathing, Spirit of a glorious, happy life;

Oh head, first anointed by Heaven,

And then by your own merit To wear noble crowns.

So this is how I see you now,

Crowned by blood and full of death?

Did I too do this to you? Was I

The evil murderer of such a praiseworthy and innocent son? Alas, as foretold by the sage,

It is for this sin

That Heaven’s ire will fall upon me.

And I, wretched man,

Have unfortunately already seen

The sage’s other prophecies come true.

But even if Heaven’s will

Should strike wrath upon me and my Kingdom,

May Soliman never live through

Such dreadful events and such terrible pain As that which he now bitterly suffers.

Alas, alas, I feel, I feel

My heart failing! Oh my son, my son!

You too have died!

You, who were this Kingdom’s most worthy heir!

You, who were Soliman’s most grateful son!

You are dead, and I killed you! Oh such pain!

Oh wretched me, who will hold me up? I feel faint!

AC.: Great Lord, what is happening? Servants, run!

Quickly, to the Court, to the Court!

And you, women, bring

This poor wretch elsewhere!

Go there, in those deserted rooms

Close by! Oh what a terrible sight!

In this mirror, every mortal’s gaze Sees in the dead and dying Royals The incarnation of human fate.

Why do I hear warrior drums and trumpets?

What do I see? Do I see Adrasto, Adrasto made rebellious? And with him

All the royal standards and the Captains

Raging all around?

Oh unending misfortune, why should I suffer so?

No, no, it is through prayer, at least, for all else is vain, That I will attempt to take action

To impede the cruelest of these grave misdeeds.

ACT V, scene 5

(Adrasto, Acmat)

ADRASTO: Follow me, follow me!

Set fire, kill everything in sight

While the others there flee the guards!

And may such foul lands,

Contaminated and polluted by so much error,

Be cleansed by fire,

Washed by the blood

Of whomever dwells there and defends it!

We shall enter the Palace, while some

Of you shall remain inside the door to ensure That no one escape

Until the cruel tyrant is caught at last.

AC. : This alone remains to guarantee his total ruin,

My good Adrasto.

AD. : You are up to the task, Acmat, for I know you.

AC. : Lord, I do not pray for me.

AD. : Go then,

For you would pray in vain for anyone else.

And so, should only

The innocent die nowadays?

Should I not then vindicate

An unjust death

With a thousand just ones?

And should I not celebrate

Final funeral honors

Worthy of the fate of our beloved Prince,

With the misery and blood of others?

Should not the cruel King, ensnared, Explain the reasons for his misdeeds to the Camp?

Ah, yes, yes, he must. To arms! To arms! Follow me, men!

Slaughter, slaughter! Rage, flames, vengeance!

AC.: Oh woeful day! These, alas, are fortune’s

Cruel and deadly games.

Now here comes Soliman. Here is the famous

Subjugator of every Province and Kingdom;

Dominator of the fiercest peoples;

Terror of the East, no, of the World,

Surrounded by squads and invincible in arms;

Proud of his great son, and able to disarm assassins

With the charms of a woman in love: His heart was

Full of great hope and joy.

And now, in just one day,

He is like a wild beast,

The dreadful example of all misfortune.

Oh mortals, mortals,

You who think yourselves

Blessed in your Kingdoms,

From this you shall learn

That if a man has sovereignty over another without first

Governing himself with reason, he shall possess a vile Kingdom, Or in the right hand hold

With pleasure, and vain and false honor

Only the fleeting shadow of the Royal Sceptre.

This page has been left blank intentionally