You've gained your object. Rigour push'd too far
Is sure to miss its aim, however good,
As snaps the bow that's all too straitly bent.
GESSL.
Peace, till your counsel's ask'd for!
RUD.
I will speak!
Ay, and I dare! I reverence my king;
But acts like these must make his name abhorr'd.
He sanctions not this cruelty. I dare
Avouch the fact. And you outstep your powers
In handling thus my harmless countrymen.
GESSL.
Ha! thou grow'st bold, methinks!
RUD.
I have been dumb
To all the oppressions I was doomed to see.
I've closed mine eyes to shut them from my view,
Bade my rebellious, swelling heart be still,
And pent its struggles down within my breast.
But to be silent longer, were to be
A traitor to my king and country both.
BERTH. (casting herself between him and the Governor).
Oh, Heavens! you but exasperate his rage!
RUD.
My people I forsook-renounced my kindred-
Broke all the ties of nature, that I might
Attach myself to you. I madly thought
That I should best advance the general weal
By adding sinews to the Emperor's power.
The scales have fallen from mine eyes-I see
The fearful precipice on which I stand.
You've led my youthful judgment far astray,-
Deceived my honest heart. With best intent,
I had well-nigh achiev'd my country's ruin.
GESSL.
Audacious boy, this language to thy lord?
RUD.
The Emperor is my lord, not you! I'm free.
As you by birth, and I can cope with you
In every virtue that beseems a knight.
And if you stood not here in that king's name,
Which I respect e'en where 'tis most abused,
I'd throw my gauntlet down, and you should give
An answer to my gage in knightly sort.
Ay, beckon to your troopers! Here I stand;
But not like these
[Pointing to the people,]
-unarmed. I have a sword,
And he that stirs one step-
STAUFF. (exclaims).
The apple's down!
[While the attention of the crowd has been directed to the spot where
Bertha had cast herself between Rudenz and Gessler, Tell has shot.]
ROSSEL.
The boy's alive!
MANY VOICES.
The apple has been struck!
[Walter Furst staggers and is about to fall. Bertha supports him.]
GESSL. (astonished).
How? Has he shot? The madman!
BERTH.
Worthy father!
Pray you, compose yourself. The boy's alive.
WALT. (runs in with the apple).
Here is the apple, father! Well I knew
You would not harm your boy.
[Tell stands with his body bent forwards, as if still following the
arrow. His bow drops from his hand. When he sees the boy advancing, he
hastens to meet him with open arms, and, embracing him passionately,
sinks down with him quite exhausted. All crowd round them deeply
affected.]
BERTH.
Oh, ye kind Heavens!
FURST (to father and son).
My children, my dear children!
STAUFF.
God be praised!
LEUTH.
Almighty powers! That was a shot indeed!
It will be talked of to the end of time.
HAR.
This feat of Tell, the archer, will be told
Long as these mountains stand upon their base.
[Hands the apple to Gessler.]
GESSL.
By Heaven! the apple's cleft right through the core.
It was a master shot, I must allow.
ROSSEL.
The shot was good. But woe to him who drove
The man to tempt his God by such a feat!
STAUFF.
Cheer up, Tell, rise! You've nobly freed yourself,
And now may go in quiet to your home.
ROSSEL.
Come, to the mother let us bear her son!
[They are about to lead him off.]
GESSL.
A word, Tell.
TELL.
Sir, your pleasure?
GESSL.
Thou didst place
A second arrow in thy belt-nay, nay!
I saw it well. Thy purpose with it? Speak!
TELL (confused).
It is a custom with all archers, sir.
GESSL.
No, Tell, I cannot let that answer pass.
There was some other motive, well I know.
Frankly and cheerfully confess the truth;-
Whate'er it be, I promise thee thy life.
Wherefore the second arrow?
TELL.
Well, my lord,
Since you have promised not to take my life,
I will, without reserve, declare the truth.
[He draws the arrow from his belt, and fixes his eyes sternly upon the
governor.]
If that my hand had struck my darling child,
This second arrow I had aimed at you,
And, be assured, I should not then have miss'd.
GESSL.
Well, Tell, I promised thou shouldst have thy life;
I gave my knightly word, and I will keep it.
Yet, as I know the malice of thy thoughts,
I'll have thee carried hence, and safely penn'd,
Where neither sun nor moon shall reach thine eyes.
Thus from thy arrows I shall be secure.
Seize on him, guards, and bind him!
[They bind him.]
STAUFF.
How, my lord-
How can you treat in such a way a man
On whom God's hand has plainly been reveal'd?
GESSL.
Well, let us see if it will save him twice!
Remove him to my ship; I'll follow straight,
At Kussnacht I will see him safely lodged.
ROSSEL.
You dare not do't. Nor durst the Emperor's self
So violate our dearest chartered rights.
GESSL.
Where are they? Has the Emp'ror confirm'd them?
He never has. And only by obedience
May you that favour hope to win from him.
You are all rebels 'gainst the Emp'ror's power,-
And bear a desperate and rebellious spirit.
I know you all-I see you through and through.
Him do I single from amongst you now,
But in his guilt you all participate.
If you are wise, be silent and obey!
[Exit, followed by Bertha, Rudenz, Harras, and attendants. Friesshardt
and Leuthold remain.]
FURST (in violent anguish).
All's over now! He is resolved to bring
Destruction on myself and all my house.
STAUFF. (to Tell).
Oh, why did you provoke the tyrant's rage?
TELL.
Let him be calm who feels the pangs I felt.
STAUFF.
Alas! alas! Our every hope is gone.
With you we all are fettered and enchain'd.
COUNTRY PEOPLE (surrounding Tell).
Our last remaining comfort goes with you!
LEUTH. (approaching him).
I'm sorry for you, Tell, but must obey.
TELL.
Farewell!
WALT. (clinging to him in great agony).
Oh, father, father, father dear!
TELL (pointing to Heaven).
&nb
sp; Thy father is on high-appeal to Him!
STAUFF.
Have you no message, Tell, to send your wife?
TELL. (clasping the boy passionately to his breast).
The boy's uninjured; God will succour me!
[Tears himself suddenly away, and follows the soldiers of the guard.]
ACT IV.
SCENE I.
Eastern shore of the Lake of Lucerne; rugged and singularly shaped
rocks close the prospect to the west. The lake is agitated, violent
roaring and rushing of wind, with thunder and lightning at intervals.
Kunz of Gersau, Fisherman and Boy
KUNZ.
I saw it with these eyes! Believe me, friend,
It happen'd all precisely as I've said.
FISHER.
How! Tell a prisoner, and to Kussnacht borne?
The best man in the land, the bravest arm,
Had we for liberty to strike a blow!
KUNZ.
The Viceroy takes him up the lake in person:
They were about to go on board, as I
Started from Fluelen; but the gathering storm,
That drove me here to land so suddenly,
May well have hindered them from setting out.
FISHER.
Our Tell in chains, and in the Viceroy's power!
O, trust me, Gessler will entomb him, where
He never more shall see the light of day;
For Tell once free, the tyrant well might dread
The just revenge of one so deeply wrong'd.
KUNZ.
The old Landamman, too-von Attinghaus-
They say, is lying at the point of death.
FISHER.
Then the last anchor of our hopes gives way!
He was the only man that dared to raise
His voice in favour of the people's rights.
KUNZ.
The storm grows worse and worse. So, fare ye well!
I'll go and seek out quarters in the village.
There's not a chance of getting off to-day.
[Exit]
FISHER.
Tell dragg'd to prison, and the Baron dead!
Now, tyranny, exalt thy brazen front,-
Throw every shame aside! Truth's voice is dumb!
The eye that watch'd for us, in darkness closed,
The arm that should have struck thee down, in chains!
BOY.
'Tis hailing hard-come, let us to the hut!
This is no weather to be out in, father!
FISHER.
Rage on, ye winds! Ye lightnings, flash your fires!
Burst, ye swollen clouds! Ye cataracts of Heaven
Descend, and drown the country! In the germ
Destroy the generations yet unborn!
Ye savage elements, be lords of all!
Return, ye bears: ye ancient wolves, return
To this wide howling waste! The land is yours.
Who would live here, when liberty is gone?
BOY.
Hark! How the wind whistles, and the whirlpool roars.
I never saw a storm so fierce as this!
FISHER.
To level at the head of his own child!
Never had father such command before.
And shall not Nature, rising in wild wrath,
Revolt against the deed? I should not marvel,
Though to the lake these rocks should bow their heads,
Though yonder pinnacles, yon towers of ice,
That, since creation's dawn, have known no thaw,
Should, from their lofty summits, melt away,-
Though yonder mountains, yon primeval cliffs,
Should topple down, and a new deluge whelm
Beneath its waves all living men's abodes!
[Bells heard.]
BOY.
Hark, they are ringing on the mountain, yonder!
They surely see some vessel in distress.
And toll the bell that we may pray for it.
[Ascends a rock.]
FISHER.
Woe to the bark that now pursues its course,
Rock'd in the cradle of these storm-tost waves!
Nor helm nor steersman here can aught avail;
The storm is master. Man is like a ball,
Toss'd 'twixt the winds and billows. Far or near,
No haven offers him its friendly shelter!
Without one ledge to grasp, the sheer smooth rocks
Look down inhospitably on his despair,
And only tender him their flinty breasts.
BOY (calling from above).
Father, a ship: from Fluelen bearing down.
FISHER.
Heaven pity the poor wretches! When the storm
Is once entangled in this strait of ours,
It rages like some savage beast of prey,
Struggling against its cage's iron bars!
Howling, it seeks an outlet-all in vain;
For the rocks hedge it round on every side,
Walling the narrow gorge as high as Heaven.
[He ascends a cliff.]
BOY.
It is the Governor of Uri's ship;
By its red poop I know it, and the flag.
FISHER.
Judgments of Heaven! Yes, it is he himself,
It is the Governor! Yonder he sails,
And with him bears the burden of his crimes.
The avenger's arm has not been slow to strike!
Now over him he knows a mightier lord.
These waves yield no obedience to his voice.
These rocks bow not their heads before his cap.
Boy, do not pray; stay not the Judge's arm!
BOY.
I pray not for the Governor, I pray
For Tell, who's with him there on board the ship.
FISHER.
Alas, ye blind, unreasoning elements!
Must ye, in punishing one guilty head,
Destroy the vessel and the pilot too?
BOY.
See, see, they've clear'd the Buggisgrat;[*] but now
The blast, rebounding from the Devil's Minster,[*]
Has driven them back on the Great Axenberg.[*]
I cannot see them now.
FISHER.
The Hakmesser[*]
Is there, that's founder'd many a gallant ship.
If they should fail to double that with skill,
Their bark will go to pieces on the rocks,
That hide their jagged peaks below the lake.
The best of pilots, boy, they have on board.
If man could save them, Tell is just the man,
But he is manacled both hand and foot.
[*] Rocks on the shore of the Lake of Lucerne.
[Enter William Tell, with his cross-bow. He enters precipitately,
looks wildly round, and testifies the most violent agitation. When he
reaches the centre of the stage, he throws himself upon his knees, and
stretches out his hands, first towards the earth, then towards
Heaven.]
BOY (observing him).
See, father! A man on's knees; who can it be?
FISHER.
He clutches at the earth with both his hands,
And looks as though he were beside himself.
Boy (advancing).
What do I see? Come father, come and look!
FISHER. (approaches).
Who is it? God in Heaven! What! Wilhelm Tell!
How came you hither? Speak, Tell!
BOY.
Were you not
In yonder ship, a prisoner, and in chains?
FISHER.
Were they not carrying you to Kussnacht, Tell?
TELL (rising).
I am released.
FISHER. and BOY.
Released, oh miracle!
BOY.
Whence came you here?
TELL.
Fr
om yonder vessel!
FISHER.
What?
BOY.
Where is the Viceroy?
Wilhelm Tell Page 10
