The story of my wrongs struck deep, and now
They, to a man, are ours; both heart and hand.
STAUFF.
Great things, indeed, you've wrought in little time.
MELCH.
I did still more than this. The fortresses,
Rossberg and Sarnen, are the country's dread;
For from behind their adamantine walls
The foe, like eagle from his eyrie, swoops,
And, safe himself, spreads havoc o'er the land.
With my own eyes I wish'd to weigh its strength,
So went to Sarnen, and explored the castle.
STAUFF.
How! Venture even into the tiger's den?
MELCH.
Disguised in pilgrim's weeds I entered it;
I saw the Viceroy feasting at his board-
Judge if I'm master of myself or no!
I saw the tyrant, and I slew him not!
STAUFF.
Fortune, indeed, upon your boldness smiled.
[Meanwhile the others have arrived and join Melchthal and
Stauffacher.]
Yet tell me now, I pray, who are the friends,
The worthy men, who came along with you?
Make me acquainted with them, that we may
Speak frankly, man to man, and heart to heart.
MEYER.
In the three Cantons, who, sir, knows not you?
Meyer of Sarnen is my name; and this
Is Struth of Winkelried, my sister's son.
STAUFF.
No unknown name. A Winkelried it was,
Who slew the dragon in the fen at Weiler,
And lost his life in the encounter, too.
WINK.
That, Master Stauffacher, was my grandfather.
MELCH. (pointing to two peasants).
These two are men who till the cloister lands
Of Engelberg, and live behind the forest.
You'll not think ill of them, because they're serfs,
And sit not free upon the soil, like us.
They love the land, and bear a good repute.
STAUFF. (to them).
Give me your hands. He has good cause for thanks,
That to no man his body's service owes.
But worth is worth, no matter where 'tis found.
HUNN.
That is Herr Reding, sir, our old Landamman.
MEYER.
I know him well. I am at law with him
About a piece of ancient heritage.
Herr Reding, we are enemies in court,
Here we are one.
[Shakes his hand.]
STAUFF.
That's well and bravely said.
WINK.
Listen! They come. The horn of Uri! Hark!
[On the right and left armed men are seen descending the rocks with
torches.]
MAUER.
Look, is not that the holy man of God?
A worthy priest! The terrors of the night,
And the way's pains and perils scare not him,
A faithful shepherd caring for his flock.
BAUM.
The Sacrist follows him, and Walter Furst.
But where is Tell? I do not see him there.
[Walter Furst, Rosselmann the Pastor, Petermann the Sacrist, Kuoni the
Shepherd, Werni the Huntsman, Ruodi the Fisherman, and five other
countrymen, thirty-three in all, advance and take their places round
the fire.]
FURST.
Thus must we, on the soil our fathers left us,
Creep forth by stealth to meet like murderers,
And in the night, that should her mantle lend
Only to crime and black conspiracy,
Assert our own good rights, which yet are clear
As is the radiance of the noonday sun.
MELCH.
So be it. What is hatch'd in gloom of night
Shall free and boldly meet the morning light.
ROSSEL.
Confederates! Listen to the words which God
Inspires my heart withal. Here we are met,
To represent the general weal. In us
Are all the people of the land convened.
Then let us hold the Diet, as of old,
And as we're wont in peaceful times to do.
The time's necessity be our excuse,
If there be aught informal in this meeting.
Still, wheresoe'er men strike for justice, there
Is God, and now beneath His heav'n we stand.
STAUFF.
'Tis well advised.-Let us, then, hold the Diet,
According to our ancient usages.-
Though it be night, there's sunshine in our cause.
MELCH.
Few though our numbers be, the hearts are here
Of the whole people; here the BEST are met.
HUNN.
The ancient books may not be near at hand,
Yet are they graven in our inmost hearts.
ROSSEL.
'Tis well. And now, then, let a ring be formed,
And plant the swords of power within the ground.[*]
[*] It was the custom at the Meetings of the Landes Gemeinde, or Diet,
to set swords upright in the ground as emblems of authority.
MAUER.
Let the Landamman step into his place,
And by his side his secretaries stand.
SACRIST.
There are three Cantons here. Which hath the right
To give the head to the united Council?
Schwytz may contest that dignity with Uri,
We Unterwald'ners enter not the field.
MELCH.
We stand aside. We are but suppliants here,
Invoking aid from our more potent friends.
STAUFF.
Let Uri have the sword. Her banner takes,
In battle, the precedence of our own.
FURST.
Schwytz, then, must share the honour of the sword;
For she's the honoured ancestor of all.
ROSSEL.
Let me arrange this generous controversy.
Uri shall lead in battle-Schwytz in Council.
FURST. (gives Stauffacher his hand).
Then take your place.
STAUFF.
Not I. Some older man.
HOFE.
Ulrich, the smith, is the most aged here.
MAUER.
A worthy man, but not a freeman; no!-
No bondman can be judge in Switzerland.
STAUFF.
Is not Herr Reding here, our old Landamman?
Where can we find a worthier man than he?
FURST.
Let him be Amman and the Diet's chief!
You that agree with me, hold up your hands!
[All hold up their right hands.]
REDING. (stepping into the center).
I cannot lay my hands upon the books;
But by yon everlasting stars I swear,
Never to swerve from justice and the right.
[The two swords are placed before him, and a circle formed; Schwytz in
the centre, Uri on his right, Unterwald on his left.]
REDING. (resting on his battle sword).
Why, at the hour when spirits walks the earth,
Meet the three Cantons of the mountains here,
Upon the lake's inhospitable shore?
What may the purport be of this new league
We here contract beneath the starry heaven?
STAUFF. (entering the circle).
'Tis no new league that here we now contract,
But one fathers framed, in ancient times,
We purpose to renew! For know, confederates,
Though mountain ridge and lake divide our bounds,
And each Canton by its own laws is ruled,
Yet are we but one race, born of one blood,
And all
are children of one common home.
WINK.
Is then the burden of our legends true,
That we came hither from a distant land?
Oh, tell us what you know, that our new league
May reap fresh vigour from the leagues of old.
STAUFF.
Hear, then, what aged herdsmen tell. There dwelt
A mighty people in the land that lies
Back to the north. The scourge of famine came;
And in this strait 'twas publicly resolved,
That each tenth man, on whom the lot might fall,
Should leave the country. They obey'd-and forth,
With loud lamentings, men and women went,
A mighty host; and to the south moved on.
Cutting their way through Germany by the sword,
Until they gained these pine-clad hills of ours;
Nor stopp'd they ever on their forward course,
Till at the shaggy dell they halted, where
The Muta flows through its luxuriant meads.
No trace of human creature met their eye,
Save one poor hut upon the desert shore,
Where dwelt a lonely man, and kept the ferry.
A tempest raged-the lake rose mountains high
And barr'd their further progress. Thereupon
They view'd the country-found it rich in wood,
Discover'd goodly springs, and felt as they
Were in their own dear native land once more.
Then they resolved to settle on the spot;
Erected there the ancient town of Schwytz;
And many a day of toil had they to clear
The tangled brake and forest's spreading roots.
Meanwhile their numbers grew, the soil became
Unequal to sustain them, and they cross'd
To the black mountain, far as Weissland, where,
Conceal'd behind eternal walls of ice,
Another people speak another tongue.
They built the village Stanz, beside the Kernwald;
The village Altdorf, in the vale of Reuss;
Yet, ever mindful of their parent stem,
The men of Schywtz, from all the stranger race,
That since that time have settled in the land,
Each other recognize. Their hearts still know,
And beat fraternally to kindred blood.
[Extends his hand right and left.]
MAUER.
Ay, we are all one heart, one blood, one race!
ALL (joining hands).
We are one people, and will act as one.
STAUFF.
The nations round us bear a foreign yoke;
For they have to the conqueror succumbed.
Nay, e'en within our frontiers may be found
Some, that owe villein service to a lord,
A race of bonded serfs from sire to son.
But we, the genuine race of ancient Swiss,
Have kept our freedom from the first till now.
Never to princes have we bow'd the knee;
Freely we sought protection of the Empire.
ROSSEL.
Freely we sought it-freely it was given.
'Tis so set down in Emperor Frederick's charter.
STAUFF.
For the most free have still some feudal lord
There must be still a chief, a judge supreme,
To whom appeal may lie, in case of strife.
And therefore was it, that our sires allow'd,
For what they had recover'd from the waste
This honour to the Emperor, the lord
Of all the German and Italian soil;
And, like the other free men of his realm,
Engaged to aid him with their swords in war;
The free man's duty this alone should be,
To guard the Empire that keeps guard for him.
MELCH.
He's but a slave that would acknowledge more.
STAUFF.
They followed, when the Heribann[*] went forth,
The imperial standard, and they fought its battles!
To Italy they march'd in arms, to place
The Caesars' crown upon the Emperor's head.
But still at home they ruled themselves in peace,
By their own laws and ancient usages.
The Emperor's only right was to adjudge
The penalty of death; he therefore named
Some mighty noble as his delegate,
That had no stake or interest in the land,
Who was call'd in, when doom was to be pass'd,
And, in the face of day, pronounced decree,
Clear and distinctly, fearing no man's hate.
What traces here, that we are bondsmen? Speak,
If there be any can gainsay my words!
[*] The Heribann was a muster of warriors similar to the arriere ban
of France.
HOFE.
No! You have spoken but the simple truth;
We never stoop'd beneath a tyrant's yoke.
STAUFF.
Even to the Emperor we did not submit,
When he gave judgment 'gainst us for the church;
For when the Abbey of Einsiedlen claimed
The Alp our fathers and ourselves had grazed,
And showed an ancient charter, which bestowed
The land on them as being ownerless-
For our existence there had been concealed-
What was our answer? This: "The grant is void.
No Emperor can bestow what is our own:
And if the Empire shall deny our rights,
We can, within our mountains, right ourselves!"
Thus spake our fathers! And shall we endure
The shame and infamy of this new yoke,
And from the vassal brook what never king
Dared, in his plenitude of power, attempt?
This soil we have created for ourselves,
By the hard labour of our hands; we've changed
The giant forest, that was erst the haunt
Of savage bears, into a home for man;
Extirpated the dragon's brood, that wont
To rise, distent with venom, from the swamps;
Rent the thick misty canopy that hung
Its blighting vapours on the dreary waste;
Blasted the solid rock; across the chasm
Thrown the firm bridge for the wayfaring man.
By the possession of a thousand years
The soil is ours. And shall an alien lord,
Himself a vassal, dare to venture here,
Insult us by our own hearth fires,-attempt
To forge the chains of bondage for our hands,
And do us shame on our own proper soil?
Is there no help against such wrong as this?
[Great sensation among the people.]
Yes! there's a limit to the despot's power!
When the oppress'd for justice looks in vain,
When his sore burden may no more be borne,
With fearless heart he makes appeal to Heaven,
And thence brings down his everlasting rights,
Which there abide, inalienably his,
And indestructible as are the stars.
Nature's primaeval state returns again,
Where man stands hostile to his fellow man;
And if all other means shall fail his need,
One last resource remains-his own good sword.
Our dearest treasures call to us for aid,
Against the oppressor's violence; we stand
For country, home, for wives, for children here!
ALL (clashing their swords).
Here stand we for our homes, our wives, and children.
ROSSEL. (stepping into the circle).
Bethink ye well, before ye draw the sword.
Some peaceful compromise may yet be made;
Speak but one word, and at your feet you'll see
That have been often tendered you; renounce
The Empire, and to Austria swear allegiance!
MAUER.
What says the priest? To Austria allegiance?
BUHEL.
Hearken not to him!
WINK.
'Tis a traitor's counsel, His country's foe!
REDING.
Peace, peace, confederates!
SEWA.
Homage to Austria, after wrongs like these!
FLUE.
Shall Austria extort from us by force
What we denied to kindness and entreaty?
MEYER.
Then should we all be slaves, deservedly.
MAUER.
Yes! Let him forfeit all a Switzer's rights,
Who talks of yielding thus to Austria's yoke!
I stand on this, Landamman. Let this be
The foremost of our laws!
Wilhelm Tell Page 6
