The Death of Wallenstein (play)

SCENE XV.

WALLENSTEIN, TERZKY, ILLO, ten CUIRASSIERS (led by an ANSPESSADE

[4], march up and arrange themselves, after the word of command,

in one front before the DUKE, and make their obeisance. He takes

his hat off, and immediately covers himself again).

ANSPESSADE.

Halt! Front! Present!

WALLENSTEIN (after he has run through them with his eye, to the

NSPESSADE).

I know thee well. Thou art out of Brueggen in Flanders:

Thy name is Mercy.

ANSPESSADE.

Henry Mercy.

WALLENSTEIN. Thou were cut off on the march, surrounded by the Hessians,

and didst fight thy way with an hundred and eighty men through their

thousand.

ANSPESSADE. 'Twas even so, general!

WALLENSTEIN. What reward hadst thou for this gallant exploit?

ANSPESSADE. That which I asked for: the honor to serve in this corps.

WALLENSTEIN (turning to a second). Thou wert among the volunteers that

seized and made booty of the Swedish battery at Altenburg.

SECOND CUIRASSIER. Yes, general!

WALLENSTEIN. I forget no one with whom I have exchanged words.

(A pause.) Who sends you?

ANSPESSADE. Your noble regiment, the cuirassiers of Piccolomini.

WALLENSTEIN. Why does not your colonel deliver in your request according

to the custom of service?

ANSPESSADE. Because we would first know whom we serve.

WALLENSTEIN. Begin your address.

ANSPESSADE (giving the word of command). Shoulder your arms!

WALLENSTEIN (turning to a third). Thy name is Risbeck; Cologne is thy

birthplace.

THIRD CUIRASSIER. Risbeck of Cologne.

WALLENSTEIN. It was thou that broughtest in the Swedish colonel Duebald,

prisoner, in the camp at Nuremberg.

THIRD CUIRASSIER. It was not I, general.

WALLENSTRIN. Perfectly right! It was thy elder brother: thou hadst a

younger brother, too: where did he stay?

THIRD CUIRASSIER. He is stationed at Olmutz, with the imperial army.

WALLENSTEIN (to the ANSPESSADE). Now then-begin.

ANSPESSADE.

There came to hand a letter from the emperor

Commanding us--

WALLENSTEIN (interrupting him).

Who chose you?

ANSPESSADE.

Every company

Drew its own man by lot.

WALLENSTEIN.

Now! to the business.

ANSPESSADE.

There came to hand a letter from the emperor

Commanding us, collectively, from thee

All duties of obedience to withdraw,

Because thou wert an enemy and traitor.

WALLENSTEIN.

And what did you determine?

ANSPESSADE.

All our comrades

At Braunau, Budweiss, Prague, and Olmutz, have

Obeyed already; and the regiments here,

Tiefenbach and Toscano, instantly

Did follow their example. But-but we

Do not believe that thou art an enemy

And traitor to thy country, hold it merely

For lie and trick, and a trumped-up Spanish story!

[With warmth.

Thyself shall tell us what thy purpose is,

For we have found thee still sincere and true

No mouth shall interpose itself betwixt

The gallant general and the gallant troops.

WALLENSTEIN.

Therein I recognize my Pappenheimers.

ANSPESSADE.

And this proposal makes thy regiment to thee:

Is it thy purpose merely to preserve

In thine own hands this military sceptre,

Which so becomes thee, which the emperor

Made over to thee by a covenant!

Is it thy purpose merely to remain

Supreme commander of the Austrian armies?

We will stand by thee, general! and guarantee

Thy honest rights against all opposition.

And should it chance, that all the other regiments

Turn from thee, by ourselves we will stand forth

Thy faithful soldiers, and, as is our duty,

Far rather let ourselves be cut to pieces

Than suffer thee to fall. But if it be

As the emperor's letter says, if it be true,

That thou in traitorous wise wilt lead us over

To the enemy, which God in heaven forbid!

Then we too will forsake thee, and obey

That letter--

WALLENSTEIN.

Hear me, children!

ANSPESSADE.

Yes, or no,

There needs no other answer.

WALLENSTEIN.

Yield attention.

You're men of sense, examine for yourselves;

Ye think, and do not follow with the herd:

And therefore have I always shown you honor

Above all others, suffered you to reason;

Have treated you as free men, and my orders

Were but the echoes of your prior suffrage.

ANSPESSADE.

Most fair and noble has thy conduct been

To us, my general! With thy confidence

Thou has honored us, and shown us grace and favor

Beyond all other regiments; and thou seest

We follow not the common herd. We will

Stand by thee faithfully. Speak but one word-

Thy word shall satisfy us that it is not

A treason which thou meditatest-that

Thou meanest not to lead the army over

To the enemy; nor e'er betray thy country.

WALLENSTEIN.

Me, me are they betraying. The emperor

Hath sacrificed me to my enemies,

And I must fall, unless my gallant troops

Will rescue me. See! I confide in you.

And be your hearts my stronghold! At this breast

The aim is taken, at this hoary head.

This is your Spanish gratitude, this is our

Requital for that murderous fight at Luetzen!

For this we threw the naked breast against

The halbert, made for this the frozen earth

Our bed, and the hard stone our pillow! never stream

Too rapid for us, nor wood too impervious;

With cheerful spirit we pursued that Mansfeldt

Through all the turns and windings of his flight:

Yea, our whole life was but one restless march:

And homeless, as the stirring wind, we travelled

O'er the war-wasted earth. And now, even now,

That we have well-nigh finished the hard toil,

The unthankful, the curse-laden toil of weapons,

With faithful indefatigable arm

Have rolled the heavy war-load up the hill,

Behold! this boy of the emperor's bears away

The honors of the peace, an easy prize!

He'll weave, forsooth, into his flaxen locks

The olive branch, the hard-earned ornament

Of this gray head, grown gray beneath the helmet.

ANSPESSADE.

That shall he not, while we can hinder it!

No one, but thou, who has conducted it

With fame, shall end this war, this frightful war.

Thou leadest us out to the bloody field

Of death; thou and no other shalt conduct us home,

Rejoicing, to the lovely plains of peace-

Shalt share with us the fruits of the long toil.

WALLENSTEIN.

What! Think you then at length in late old age

To enjoy the fruits of toil? Believe it not.

Never, no never, will you see the end

Of the contest! you and me, and all of us,

This war will swallow up! War, war, not peace,

Is Austria's wish; and therefore, because I

Endeavored after peace, therefore I fall.

For what cares Austria how long the war

Wears out the armies and lays waste the world!

She will but wax and grow amid the ruin

And still win new domains.

[The CUIRASSIERS express agitation by their gestures.

Ye're moved-I see

A noble rage flash from your eyes, ye warriors!

Oh, that my spirit might possess you now

Daring as once it led you to the battle

Ye would stand by me with your veteran arms,

Protect me in my rights; and this is noble!

But think not that you can accomplish it,

Your scanty number! to no purpose will you

Have sacrificed you for your general.

[Confidentially.

No! let us tread securely, seek for friends;

The Swedes have proffered us assistance, let us

Wear for a while the appearance of good-will,

And use them for your profit, till we both

Carry the fate of Europe in our hands,

And from our camp to the glad jubilant world

Lead peace forth with the garland on her head!

ANSPESSADE.

'Tis then but mere appearances which thou

Dost put on with the Swede! Thou'lt not betray

The emperor? Wilt not turn us into Swedes?

This is the only thing which we desire

To learn from thee.

WALLENSTEIN.

What care I for the Swedes?

I hate them as I hate the pit of hell,

And under Providence I trust right soon

To chase them to their homes across their Baltic.

My cares are only for the whole: I have

A heart-it bleeds within me for the miseries

And piteous groanings of my fellow-Germans.

Ye are but common men, but yet ye think

With minds not common; ye appear to me

Worthy before all others, that I whisper thee

A little word or two in confidence!

See now! already for full fifteen years,

The war-torch has continued burning, yet

No rest, no pause of conflict. Swede and German,

Papist and Lutheran! neither will give way

To the other; every hand's against the other.

Each one is party and no one a judge.

Where shall this end? Where's he that will unravel

This tangle, ever tangling more and more

It must be cut asunder.

I feel that I am the man of destiny,

And trust, with your assistance, to accomplish it.