Works of Honore De Balzac

by Honoré de Balzac

  The Marchioness

  And you want me to repeat this nonsense to the king?

  Quinola Madame, you are the only person in the whole of Spain to whom the king will not say, “Be silent.”

  The Marchioness You do not know the king, and I do. (Aside) I must get back my letter. (Aloud) There is one recent circumstance whose occurrence seems favorable to your master; news comes to the king that the Armada has been lost; wait for him on his way through to chapel and address him. (Exit.)

  SCENE SEVENTH

  The Captain of the Guards, the Courtiers and Quinola.

  Quinola (in the front of the stage) It is not sufficient to possess genius and to employ it, for there are plenty of people who make a false show to have it and meet excellent success. There is need also of opportunity and favoring circumstances; a picked up letter which puts a favorite in danger, in order to obtain an interceding tongue, and the loss of the mightiest of flotillas, in order to open the ears of a prince. Chance is an infamous wretch! And now, in the duel of Fontanares with his century, the hour has come for his poor second to appear. (Bells are heard; guard is mounted.) Is yon sound an omen of success? (To the Captain of the Guards) How ought the king to be spoken to?

  The Captain Step forward, bow your knee, and say: “Sire” — and pray God to guide your tongue aright.

  (The royal procession appears.)

  Quinola I shall have no trouble falling upon my knees; they are giving way already; for it is not only the fate of a man, but of a world, that is at stake.

  A page

  The queen!

  A page

  The king!

  (Tableau.)

  SCENE EIGHTH

  The same persons, the King, the Queen, the Marchioness of Mondejar, the Grand Inquisitor and the whole Court.

  Philip II. Gentlemen, we are about to pray God and honor Him who had dealt a deadly blow to Spain. England has escaped us, the Armada is lost, and we desire no more to talk of that flotilla. Admiral (he turns to the admiral), you were not sent to give battle to the storms.

  Quinola

  Sire! (He falls on one knee.)

  Philip II.

  Who are you?

  Quinola The most insignificant and the most devoted of your subjects; the servant of a man who pines in the prisons of the Holy Office, accused of magic, because he desires to give to your Majesty the power of escaping from similar disasters —

  Philip II. If you are really a servant, rise to your feet. Only grandees are wont to kneel here, in presence of the king.

  Quinola

  My master, then, shall kneel at your feet.

  Philip II. Explain yourself in brief; the moments of the king’s whole life are not so numerous as are his subjects.

  Quinola

  You must have, then, but one hour for each of your empires. My master,

  Senor Alfonso Fontanares, is in the prison of the Holy Office —

  Philip II. (to the Grand Inquisitor) Father (the Grand Inquisitor approaches), what can you tell us of a certain Alfonso Fontanares?

  The Grand Inquisitor He is a pupil of Galileo. He professes the heretical doctrine of his master and boasts the power to do wonders while he refuses to explain the means. He is accused of being rather a Moor than a Spaniard.

  Quinola (aside) That sallow face is going to spoil all! (To the King) Sire, my master knows no sorcery, excepting so far as he is madly in love, first with the glory of your Majesty, next with a maid of Barcelona, heiress of Lothundiaz, the richest burgess of the town. As he picked up more science than wealth in studying natural science in Italy, the poor youth has failed in his attempt to marry this maid. — And notice, sire, how great men are calumniated; in his despair he made a pilgrimage to the Virgen del Pilar, to beg her assistance, because Marie was the name of the lady he loved. On leaving the church, he sat down wearied under a tree and fell asleep. In his dreams the Virgin appeared to him and communicated to him an invention by which he could navigate ships without sails, without oars, against wind and tide. He approached you, sire; but between the sun and him a cloud intervened, and after a deadly conflict with the cloud, he is now suffering for his confidence in the Virgen del Pilar and in his king. No one but his servant has sufficient courage to come and throw at your feet the news that there exists a means of realizing universal dominion.

  Philip II.

  I will see your master when I leave the chapel.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Surely, the king will not expose himself to such peril?

  Philip II.

  My duty is to inquire.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  And mine is to make men respect the privileges of the Sacred Office.

  Philip II.

  I know them. Obey me and keep silence. I know that I owe you a

  hostage. I know it. (He looks round) Tell me, where is the Duke of

  Olmedo?

  Quinola (aside)

  Aha!

  The Marchioness (aside)

  We are lost.

  The Captain of the Guards

  Sire, the duke is not yet — arrived —

  Philip II. Who has given him leave thus boldly to forsake the duties of his office? (Aside) Some one is deceiving me. (To the Captain of the Guards) Tell him, if he comes, that the king has committed him as a prisoner of the Holy Office. (To the Grand Inquisitor) Issue the order.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Sire, I will go myself.

  The Queen

  And what if the duke fails to come?

  Philip II. In that case he must be dead. (To the captain) You will take his place in the execution of my orders. (He enters the chapel.)

  The Marchioness (to Quinola) Run to the duke’s house, tell him to come and comport himself as if he were not wounded to the death. The report will then be considered mere calumny.

  Quinola You may reckon upon me, but grant us your protection. (Alone) Great heavens! The king seemed charmed by my little fable of the Virgen del Pilar; I must make a vow to her — but what shall it be? — we will see after we have succeeded.

  (Scene curtain.)

  SCENE NINTH

  (A cell of the Inquisition.)

  Fontanares (alone) I understand now why Columbus desired that his fetters should be placed beside him in his coffin. What a lesson for discoverers! A great discovery is a revelation of truth. And truth destroys so many abuses and errors that all those who live by falsehood rise up to slay the truth; they begin by assailing the man. Let inventors then have patience! I myself desire to have it. Unfortunately, my patience proceeds from my love. In the hope of obtaining Marie, I dream of glory and I pursue it. I saw a piece of straw fly up above a boiler. All men have had the same experience since boilers and straw existed. But I saw there a force; in order to estimate its violence, I put a lid on the boiler; the lid flew off but did not kill me. Archimedes and I are of the same mind! He wished for a lever and a fulcrum to move the world; I possess this lever and have been fool enough to say so; since then — misfortunes have overwhelmed me. If I should die, you, man of genius who shall discover the secret, act on it, but keep silence. The light which we discover, men take from us, only to set on fire our funeral pile. Galileo, my master, is in prison for having said that the earth moves, and I am here for attempting to apply the forces of the earth. No! I am here because I rebel against the cupidity of those who desire to steal my secret; were it not for my love for Marie, I would claim my liberty to-night, leaving to them the profit, keeping to myself the fame — Ah! What rage is in my heart! But rage is only fit for children; let me be calm and then I shall be strong. Would that I might have news of the only man who has faith in me! He is at liberty, he, who begged to win me bread. But faith is only found among the poor, who have need of it.

  SCENE TENTH

  The Grand Inquisitor, a familiar and Fontanares.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Well, my son, how are you? You were speaking of faith, doubtless you

  ha
ve made some sage reflections recently. Come now, spare the Holy

  Office a resort to severity.

  Fontanares

  Father, what do you wish me to say?

  The Grand Inquisitor Before setting you at liberty, the Holy Office must be sure that the means you employ are natural —

  Fontanares Father, if I had made a compact with the Evil One, would he have let me languish here?

  The Grand Inquisitor Your words are impious; the devil has a master whose existence is proved by our burning of heretics.

  Fontanares

  Have you ever seen a ship on the sea? (The Grand Inquisitor assents.)

  By what means is it propelled?

  The Grand Inquisitor

  The wind fills the sails.

  Fontanares

  Did the devil reveal this method of navigation to the first sailor?

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Do you know who he was?

  Fontanares He was, perhaps, the founder of some long forgotten power that ruled the sea — at any rate, the means that I employ are not less natural than his. I have seen a certain force in nature, a force controllable by man. For the wind is God’s creature, and man is not its master, but the wind propels the ships of man, while my force is in the ship itself.

  The Grand Inquisitor (aside) This man may prove a dangerous fellow. (Aloud) And you refuse to tell us what it is?

  Fontanares I will tell the king, in presence of the court; for, after that, no one will be able to rob me of my glory and the fortune that it brings.

  The Grand Inquisitor You call yourself an inventor, and yet you think of nothing but fortune! You are too ambitious to be a man of genius.

  Fontanares Father, I am so profoundly disgusted by the jealousy of the vulgar, by the avarice of the great, by the behavior of sham philosophers, that — but for my love for Marie — I would give back that which chance has bestowed upon me.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Chance?

  Fontanares I am wrong. I would give back to God the thought which God has sent to me.

  The Grand Inquisitor God did not send it to you that it might be hidden, and we have the right to force you to divulge it. (To his familiar) Bid them prepare the rack.

  Fontanares

  I was expecting it.

  SCENE ELEVENTH

  The Grand Inquisitor, Fontanares, Quinola and the Duke of Olmedo.

  Quinola

  It isn’t a very healthy thing, this torture.

  Fontanares

  Quinola! And in what a livery!

  Quinola

  The livery of success, for you are to be freed.

  Fontanares

  Free? And to pass from hell to heaven in an instant?

  The Duke of Olmedo

  As martyrs do.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Sir, do you dare to say such words in this place!

  The Duke of Olmedo I am charged by the king to take out of your custody this man, and will answer for him to the Holy Inquisition.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  What a mistake!

  Quinola

  Ah! you would like to boil him in your cauldrons of oil! Many thanks!

  His cauldrons are going to carry us ‘round the world — like this. (He

  twirls his hat.)

  Fontanares

  Embrace me, my friend, and tell me how —

  The Duke of Olmedo

  Say not a word here —

  Quinola

  Yes (he points to the Inquisitor), for here the walls have ears. Come.

  And you (speaking to the duke) take courage. You are pale, and I must

  give to you a tinge of color; but I know how to do it.

  (Scene curtain.)

  SCENE TWELFTH

  (Palace gallery as in first scene.)

  The Duke of Olmedo, the Duke of Lerma, Fontanares and Quinola.

  The Duke of Olmedo

  We have come just in time!

  The Duke of Lerma

  You were not wounded then?

  The Duke of Olmedo Who said I was? Would the favorite of the king ruin me? And should I be here, as you see me, if I were dead? (To Quinola) Stand close and hold me up.

  Quinola (to Fontanares)

  This is a man worthy of your love.

  Fontanares Who would not envy such a one? Yet how seldom is occasion given to show one’s love.

  Quinola Spare us, good sir, all this rigmarole about love, in the presence of the king; for the king, hark you —

  A page

  The King!

  Fontanares

  Come on, and let all our thoughts be for Marie!

  Quinola (noticing that the Duke of Olmedo is fainting)

  How are you? (He puts a flask to his nostrils.)

  SCENE THIRTEENTH

  The same persons, the King, the Queen, the Captain of the Guards, the

  Grand Inquisitor, the Marchioness of Mondejar, the President of the

  Council of Castile and the whole court.

  Philip II. (to the Captain of the Guards)

  Has our man arrived?

  The Captain The Duke of Olmedo, whom I met on the palace steps, has at once obeyed the commands of the king.

  The Duke of Olmedo (falling on one knee)

  Will the king deign to pardon a delay — unpardonable?

  Philip II. (raising him by his wounded arm) I was told you were dying — (he glances at the marchioness) — of a wound received in a nocturnal attack.

  The Duke of Olmedo

  Well, you see me here, sire, a sufficient answer.

  The Marchioness (aside)

  He is rouged!

  Philip II. (to the duke)

  Where is your prisoner?

  The Duke of Olmedo (pointing to Fontanares)

  Yonder he stands.

  Fontanares (kneeling) And ready, to the great glory of God, to do wonders which shall add splendor to the reign of the king, my master.

  Philip II. Rise up and speak to me; what is this force miraculous which shall give to Spain the empire of the world?

  Fontanares It is a force invincible, sire. It is steam; for, when water has become expanded in steam, it demands a much more extensive area than that which it occupies in its natural form; and in order to take that space it would blow up mountains. By my invention this force is confined; the machine is provided with wheels, which beat the sea and propel a vessel as swiftly as the wind, so that tempests cannot resist its course. Voyages can be made in safety and so swiftly that there is no limit to speed excepting in the revolution of the wheels. Human life is lengthened every time a moment is economized. Sire, Christopher Columbus gave to you a world three thousand leagues across the ocean; I will bring one to you at the port of Cadiz, and you shall claim, with the assistance of God, the dominion of the sea.

  The Queen

  You do not seem to be astonished, sire?

  Philip II.

  Astonishment is involuntary flattery, and kings may never flatter. (To

  Fontanares) What do you ask of me?

  Fontanares That which Columbus asked, a ship and the presence of my king to witness the experiment.

  Philip II. You shall have all — the king, the realm of Spain — the whole world. They tell me that you love a maid of Barcelona. I am about to cross the Pyrenees, to visit my possessions, Roussillon and Perpignan; you shall receive your vessel at Barcelona.

  Fontanares In granting me this vessel, sire, you have done me justice; in giving it to me at Barcelona, you have bestowed a favor which, from a subject, makes me your slave.

  Philip II. Yet be cautious; to lose a vessel of the state will be to risk your life, for so the law provides.

  Fontanares

  I know it, and accept the risk.

  Philip II. Well said, brave man! If you succeed in constructing this sailless, oarless vessel that shall face the wind as swiftly as if the wind were in its favor, I will create you — what is your name?

  Fontan
ares

  Alfonso Fontanares.

  Philip II.

  You shall be Don Alfonso Fontanares, Duke of — Neptunado, Grandee of

  Spain.

  The Duke of Lerma

  Sire, the statutes concerning nobility —

  Philip II.

  Silence! Duke of Lerma. It is the duty of the king to exalt the man of

  genius above all other men and thus to honor the ray of light which

  God has given to him.

  The Grand Inquisitor

  Sire —

  Philip II.

  What would you?

  The Grand Inquisitor We did not imprison the man on the charge that he had commerce with the devil, nor because of his impiety, nor because he springs from a family suspected of heresy; but for the safety of monarchies. Printing has permitted clever men to communicate their thoughts to others and the result has been — Luther, whose word has flown abroad in every direction. But this man is endeavoring to make out of all the nations of the earth a single people, and, before a multitude like this, the Holy Office trembles for the fate of monarchy.

  Philip II.

  All progress moves heavenward.

  The Grand Inquisitor Heaven does not command many things which yet it does not hinder men from doing.

  Philip II. Our duty consists in bringing good out of evil things and in this work of amelioration gathering all within one circle, whose centre is the throne. Do you not see what is here at stake, even the realization of that universal dominion long-sought for by my glorious father? (To Fontanares) When you have won the rank of duke and Spanish grandee of the first class, I will put upon your breast the Golden Fleece; you shall then be appointed Grand Master of Naval Construction in Spain and the Indies. (To a minister) President, you will issue, this very day, under pain of my displeasure, the order to put at the disposal of this man, in our port of Barcelona, such a vessel as he desires, and — see that no obstacle interferes with his enterprise.

  Quinola

  Sire —

  Philip II.

  What do you desire?

  Quinola

  While you are here, grant, sire, full pardon to a wretch named

  Lavradi, who was sentenced by a deaf magistrate.

  Philip II.

  Because the judge was deaf, must the king be blind?

  Quinola

  No, but indulgent, sire, which is almost the same thing.

  Fontanares Pardon! Grant pardon to the only man who has sustained me in my struggle!