No More Learning

The noise of the bells grows louder. A mountaineer
runs in, with his sword drawn. _

THE MOUNTAINEER: The streets are filled with soldiers.

DONA SOL: Save yourself!
Here is a side gate.

THE CROWD (_out in the street_): Bring the brigand out!

HERNANI: One kiss, then, and farewell.

DONA SOL (_embracing him_): It is our first.

HERNANI: And it may be our last. Farewell, my love!


ACT II

SCENE--DON RUY GOMEZ, _an old, grey-haired, but superb-looking man, is
standing in the hall of his castle in the Aragon mountains. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Only an hour, and then she is my wife!
I have been jealous and unjust, and used
Some violence. But now she is my bride
She shall know how a man can love.

[_A_ PAGE _enters. _

PAGE: My lord,
There is a pilgrim at the gate, who craves
For shelter.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Let him in. On this glad day
Give friend or stranger welcome. Is there news
Of Hernani?

PAGE: King Charles has routed him
And killed him, so they say.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Thank Heaven for that!
My cup of happiness is full. Run, boy!
Bid Dona Sol put on her wedding-gown,
And as you go admit my pilgrim guest.

[_The_ PAGE _retires. _

Would I could let the whole world see my joy!

[HERNANI _enters, disguised as a pilgrim. _

HERNANI: To you, my lord, all peace and happiness!

DON RUY GOMEZ: And peace and happiness to you, my guest!
Where are you bound for?

HERNANI: For Our Lady's shrine.

[DONA SOL _enters, arrayed in a wedding-dress. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Here is the lady at whose shrine I pray.
My dearest bride! Where is your coronet?
You have forgotten it, and all the gems
I gave you as a wedding gift.

HERNANI (_in a wild, loud voice_): What man
Wishes to gain ten thousand golden crowns?
This is the price set upon Hernani.

[_Everyone is amazed. Tearing off his pilgrim robe, he
shows himself in the dress of a mountaineer. _

I am Hernani.

DONA SOL: Ah! he is not dead!

HERNANI: Ten thousand crowns for me!

DON RUY GOMEZ: The sum is great.
I am not sure of all my men.

HERNANI: Which one
Will sell me to King Charles? Will you? Will you?

[_The retainers move away from him. _ DONA SOL _makes
an imploring gesture; she is speechless with fear. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: My friend, you are my guest, and I will slay
The man that dare lay hands on you. I come
Of noble race. And were you Hernani
Or Satan, I would keep the sacred law
Of hospitality. My honour is
A thing I prize above all else on earth,
And King Charles shall not stain it while I live!
Come, men, and arm, and close the castle gate.

[_He goes out, followed by all his retainers. _ DONA SOL
_remains, her face white with anguish. _ HERNANI
_glares at her_.

HERNANI: So he has bought you, this old wealthy man!
Bought you outright!
Oh, God, how false and vain
All women are!

DONA SOL: When I refused the throne
Offered me by King Charles, was I then false?
Is this an ornament vain women wear
Upon their wedding day?

[_She takes a dagger from her bosom. _

Oh, Hernani,
They told me you were killed! I have been dressed
For marriage, but against the bridal night
I kept this dagger.

HERNANI: Slay me with it, love!
I am unworthy of you! Blind and mad
Was I to doubt the sweetest, bravest soul
That ever walked in beauty on this earth.

DONA SOL (_clasping him in her arms_): My hero and my lover,
and my lord,
Love me, and love me always!

HERNANI: Unto death.

[_As he embraces her,_ DON RUY GOMEZ _enters. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Judas!

HERNANI: Yes. Draw your sword and take my life.
But spare your bride, for she is innocent.
I came to carry her away, but she
Refused to follow me.

DONA SOL: It is not true.
I love him. Slay us both, or pardon us!

DON RUY GOMEZ: You love him, Dona Sol? Then he must die.

[_There is a sound of trumpets outside. A_ PAGE _enters. _

THE PAGE: His Majesty King Charles is at the gate,
With all his army.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Open to the king!

DONA SOL: Nothing can save him now!

[DON RUY GOMEZ _presses a spring in the wall, and a
door opens into a hiding-place. _

DON RUY GOMEZ (_to_ HERNANI): Here you are safe.

HERNANI: Surrender me! I am a prisoner now,
And not a guest.

[_He enters the hiding-place. _ DON RUY GOMEZ _closes it. _

THE PAGE: His Majesty, the King!

[KING CHARLES _enters, followed by his soldiers. _ DONA
SOL _covers herself hastily in her bridal veil. _

THE KING (_to the soldiers_): Seize all the keys, and guard the gates!
(_To_ DON RUY GOMEZ) My lord,
I hear that you are sheltering my foe,
The brigand Hernani.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Sire, that is true.

THE KING: I want his head--or yours.

DON RUY GOMEZ: He is my guest.
I come of men who are not used to sell
The head of any guest, even to their king.

THE KING: Why, man, he is your rival! You resolved
To help me hunt him down. You gave your word.

DON RUY GOMEZ: But now he is my guest.

THE KING: He shall be found,
Though every stone in all your castle walls
Fall ere I find him.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Raze my castle, then;
I cannot play the traitor.

THE KING: Well, two heads
Are better, some men say, than one. My lord,
I must have yours as well as Hernani's.
Arrest this man!

[_As the soldiers come forward_, DONA SOL _throws up her
veil and strides up hastily to_ KING CHARLES.

DONA SOL: You are a wicked and cruel king!

THE KING: What? Dona Sol? (_In a whisper_)
It is my love for you
That stirs in me this passion. You alone
Can calm it. (To DON RUY GOMEZ)
Until you deliver up
Hernani, I shall keep your lovely ward
As hostage.

DONA SOL (_taking the dagger, and hiding it again in
her bosom_): It will save him! I must go!

[_She goes up to_ KING CHARLES _and he leads her out. _
DON RUY GOMEZ _runs to the wall to press the
spring. _ DONA SOL _turns as she passes through the
door, and stops him by a wild glance. He waits,
with heaving breast, till the hall is empty, and then
lets_ HERNANI _out. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: The king is gone. Here are two swords. Now fight.

HERNANI: No! You have saved me! No. I cannot fight.
My life belongs to you. But ere I die
Let me see Dona Sol.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Did you not hear
What happened? Till I give you up, King Charles
Holds her as hostage.

HERNANI: Fool! He loves her.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Quick!
Call up my men! To horse! Pursue the king!

HERNANI: Leave it to me. I will avenge us both.
My way is best--a dagger in the dark.
Let us go forth on foot and track him down.

DON RUY GOMEZ: And when your rival dies?

HERNANI (_taking a horn from his belt_): Then claim your debt!
My life belongs to you. At any time
You wish to take it, sound upon this horn,
And I will kill myself.

DON RUY GOMEZ: Your hand on it!


ACT III

SCENE--CHARLES OF SPAIN, _who has just been elected Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire, is kneeling by the tomb of Charlemagne in the
underground vault at Aix-la-Chapelle. _

CHARLES: O mighty architect of Christendom,
Inspire me now to carry on thy work!
Ah, let me with the lightning of thy sword
Smite the rebellious people down, and make
Their kings my footstool! Warrior of God!
Give me the power to subjugate and weld
The warring races in a hierarchy
Of Christian government throughout the world!

[_The tramp of many feet is heard. _

Here my assassins come! Oh, let me creep,
Thou mighty spirit, into thy great tomb!
Counsel me from thy ashes; speak to me;
Instruct me how to rule with a strong hand,
And punish these wild men as they deserve!

[_He hides in the tomb: the_ CONSPIRATORS _enter. _

THEIR LEADER: Since Charles of Spain aims at a tyranny,
We, whom he threatens with his power, must use
The only weapon of defence still left--
Assassination! Here, before the tomb
Of Charlemagne, let us decide by lot
On whom the noble task shall fall to strike
The tyrant down.

[_The_ CONSPIRATORS _write their names on pieces of
parchment, and throw them into an urn. They kneel
down in silent prayer. Then their leader draws one
of the names. _

THE CONSPIRATORS: Who is it?

THEIR LEADER: Hernani.

HERNANI: I have won! I hold thee now at last!

DON RUY GOMEZ: No, I must strike the blow! Take back your life,
Take Dona Sol, but let me strike the blow!

[_He offers_ HERNANI _the horn. _

HERNANI: No! I have more than you have to avenge.

THEIR LEADER: Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, you shall strike
The second blow if the first fail. And now
Let us all swear to strike and die in turn,
Until Charles falls.

THE CONSPIRATORS: We swear!

CHARLES (_coming out of the tomb_): You are dead men.

[_The great vault is lighted up by torches, and a band of
soldiers who have been hiding behind the pillars
surround the_ CONSPIRATORS.

CHARLES (_to a soldier_): Bring in the lady. (_To_ HERNANI)
What is your true name?

HERNANI: I will reveal it now that I must die.
Don Juan of Aragon, Duke of Segorbe,
Duke of Cardona, Marquis of Monroy,
Count Albatera, and Viscount of Gor,
And lord of scores of towns and villages
Whose names I have forgotten. You, no doubt,
Remember all of them, Charles of Castile,
For they belong to you now.

[_The soldier returns with_ DONA SOL. _She throws herself
at the emperor's feet_.

DONA SOL: Pardon him!

CHARLES: Rise, Duchess of Segorbe and Cardona.
Marquise of Monroy--and your other names, Don Juan?

HERNANI: Who is speaking thus--the king?

CHARLES: No. It is the emperor. He is a man
Different from the king (_turning to the astonished_ CONSPIRATORS);
and he will win
Your loyalty, my friends, and your good aid,
If God in His great mercy will but guide
His erring feet along the pathway trod
By Charlemagne. Don Juan of Aragon,
Forgive me, and receive now from my hands
A wife full worthy of you, Dona Sol.

[_The two lovers kneel at his feet. Taking from his neck
the Golden Fleece, he puts it on_ HERNANI.

THE SPECTATORS: Long live the emperor.

DON RUY GOMEZ: I have the horn.


ACT IV

SCENE--_A terrace by the palace of Aragon.
It is midnight, and the
guests are departing from the marriage feast of_ HERNANI
_and_ DONA SOL.

DONA SOL: At last, my husband, we are left alone.
How glad I am the feast and noise is done--
Are over.

HERNANI: I, too, am weary of the loud, wild joy.
Happiness is a deep and quiet thing,
As deep and grave and quiet as true love.

DONA SOL: Yes, happiness and love are like a strain
Of calm and lovely music. Hernani,
Listen! (_The sound of a mountain horn floats on the air. _)
It is some mountaineer that plays
Upon your silver horn. [HERNANI _staggers back. _

HERNANI: The tiger comes!
The old, grey tiger! Look! In the shadows there!

DONA SOL: What is it frightens you?

[_The horn sounds again. _

HERNANI: He wants my blood! I cannot!

[DON RUY GOMEZ _enters, playing on the horn like a madman. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: So you have not kept your word.
"My life belongs to you. At any time
You wish to take it, sound upon this horn
And I will kill myself. " You are forsworn!

HERNANI: I have no weapon on me.

DON RUY GOMEZ (_offering a dagger and a phial_):
Which of these
Do you prefer?

HERNANI: The poison.

DONA SOL: Are you mad?

HERNANI: He saved my life at Aragon. I gave
My word of honour I would kill myself
When he desired.

[_He raises the phial to his lips, but his wife wrests it
from him. _

DONA SOL (_to her guardian_): Why do you desire
To kill my husband?

DON RUY GOMEZ: I have sworn no man
Shall marry you but me. I keep my oath!

[_With a wild gesture_ DONA SOL _drinks half of the
poison, and hands_ HERNANI _the rest. _

DONA SOL: You are two cruel men. Drink, Hernani,
And let us go to sleep!

HERNANI (_emptying the phial_): Kiss me, my sweet.
It is our bridal night.

DONA SOL (_falling beside him on the ground_): Fold me, my love,
Close in your arms. [_They die. _

DON RUY GOMEZ: Oh, I am a lost soul!

[_He kills himself. _


FOOTNOTES:

[I] Victor Hugo (see Vol. V, p. 122) occupies an anomalous
position among the great dramatists of the world. He is really a poet
with a splendid lyrical inspiration; but he combines this in his plays
with an acquired but effective talent for stage-craft. "Hernani" is the
most famous play in the European literature of the nineteenth century.
This is partly due to the fact that it was the first great romantic
drama given on the French stage. When it was produced, on February 25,
1830, there was a fierce battle in the theatre between the followers
of the new movement and the adherents of the classic school of French
playwriting. Little of the play itself was heard on the first night.
The voices of the players were drowned in a storm of denunciations
from the classicists, and counter-cheers from the romanticists. The
admirers of Victor Hugo won. "Hernani" is certainly the most romantic
of romantic dramas. The plot is striking, and full of swift and
astonishing changes, but the characters are not always true to life.
Nevertheless, "Hernani" is a fine, interesting, poetic melodrama, with
a rather weak last act. The gloomy scene with which it closes lacks
the inevitability of true tragedy. Had the play ended happily it would
undoubtedly have retained its popularity.




Marion de Lorme[J]


_Persons in the Drama_

MARION DE LORME
DIDIER
LOUIS XIII.
THE MARQUIS DE SAVERNY
THE MARQUIS DE NANGIS
THE COMTE DE GASSE
BRICHANTEAU
L'ANGELY, _the King's Jester_
ROCHEBARON LAFFEMAS
TOWN CRIER HEADSMAN TWO WORKMEN
SOLDIERS, OFFICIALS, _and a crowd of people_


ACT I

SCENE--_A street in Blois in 1638. Some officers are sitting in the
twilight outside a tavern, chatting, smoking, and drinking. They
rise up to welcome the_ COMTE DE GASSE.

BRICHANTEAU: You come to Blois to join the regiment?
We all condole with you. What is the news
From Paris?

GASSE: The duel has come in again. Richelieu
Is furious.

ROCHEBARON: That's no news. We duel here,
To pass the time away.

GASSE: But have you heard
Of the incredible, mysterious flight
Of Marion de Lorme?

BRICHANTEAU: We have some news,
Gasse, for you. Marion is here.

GASSE: At Blois? You jest! The Queen of Beauty? Marion
In a place like this?

BRICHANTEAU: Saverny was attacked
Last night by footpads. They were killing him,
When a man beat them off, and took our friend
Into a house.

GASSE: But Marion de Lorme?

BRICHANTEAU: It was her house. Saverny's rescuer
Was the young man with whom she is in love.

ROCHEBARON: What is the man like?

BRICHANTEAU: Ask Saverny that.

THE TOWN CRIER (_arriving with a crowd_):
"Ordinance. Louis, by the grace of God,
King of France and Navarre, unto all men,
To whom these presents come, greeting! We will,
Ordain, and rule, henceforward, that all men,
Nobles or commoners, who break the law
By duelling, whether one survive or two,
Shall be hanged by the neck till they are dead.
Such is our good pleasure. "

GASSE: Hang us like thieves.

[_Two officers of the town fix the edict to the wall, and
the_ CRIER _and the crowd depart. _ SAVERNY _enters.
The street grows dark. _

SAVERNY: Fair Marion de Lorme has left her house.
I cannot find her.

GASSE: What was the man like?

SAVERNY: I do not know. On entering the house
I recognised sweet Marion, and began
To speak to her. Before I could turn round
And thank the man to whom I owed my life,
He knocked the candle over. I withdrew,
Seeing I was not wanted. All I know
Is that his name is Didier.

ROCHEBARON: It smacks
Of vulgar origin. To think a man
With such a name should carry Marion off--
Marion, the queen of beauty and of love!

SAVERNY: There may be men with greater names, but none
With greater hearts. To leap from Marion's arms,
And fight with footpads for a stranger's life!
The thing's heroic! I owe Didier
A debt that I would pay, if need there was,
With all my blood. I wish he were my friend!

[L'ANGELY, _the King's jester--a mournful-looking
creature--comes and sits with the officers. He is
followed by a tall, pale, handsome young man. It
is_ DIDIER.

DIDIER: The Marquis of Saverny! So the fop
Called himself. Oh, the easy, impudent air
With which he spoke to Marie! And I saved
The creature's life. If I meet him again----

GASSE: Saverny!

DIDIER: Here's my man.

GASSE: Have you observed
The edict against duelling, on pain
Of hanging?

SAVERNY: Hanging? Hang a gentleman?
You jest! That is a punishment for serfs.

BRICHANTEAU: Well, read the edict underneath the lamp.

SAVERNY (_annoyed at_ DIDIER _for staring at him_):
Go, read it for me, pale face!

DIDIER: I?

SAVERNY: Yes, you.

DIDIER (_rising_): It is an ordinance that punishes
By gibbeting all squabbling noblemen.
Having done all you wanted, may I claim
A slight reward? Will you now fight with me?

SAVERNY: Certainly. Where?

DIDIER: Here. Who will lend a sword?

L'ANGELY: For this wild folly, take a fool's sword, friend,
And in exchange, bequeath to me, for luck,
The bit of rope that hangs you.

DIDIER (_taking his sword_): Now, marquis!

SAVERNY: Sir, at your service.

DIDIER: Guard!

[_As their swords clash,_ MARION DE LORME _appears. _

MARION (_seeing_ DIDIER _fighting_): Stop! Help! Help! Help!

[_In answer to her cries the town guard arrive. _

THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD: Down with your swords! What! Duelling beneath
The edict of the king! You are dead men.

[DIDIER _and_ SAVERNY _are disarmed and led away. _

MARION: What has he done?

[L'ANGELY _points to the edict: she reads it. _

Oh, when I called for help
Death came! Is there no way to rescue him?
The king is kind at heart, he will forgive----

L'ANGELY: But Richelieu will not! He loves red blood,
The scarlet cardinal, he loves red blood!

MARION: You frighten me! Who are you?

L'ANGELY: The king's fool.

MARION: Ah, Didier! If a woman's feeble hand
Can save you, mine shall do it! [_She departs_.

L'ANGELY (_picking up the sword he lent to_ Didier):
Ha! Ha! Ha!
It was not I that played the fool to-night!


ACT II

SCENE--_A hall in the castle of Chambord. _ KING LOUIS XIII. ,
_a grey-haired, weak-minded man, is sitting, pale and
sorrowful, in a chair of state. _ L'ANGELY _stands beside him. _

THE KING: Oh, it is miserable to be a king
That lives but does not govern. Richelieu
Is killing all my friends. I sometimes think
He wants their blood to dye his scarlet robes.

L'ANGELY: He works for France, sire----

THE KING: Yes, and for himself.
I hate him. Never did a king of France
Govern with so tyrannical a hand
As he now does. A single word from me
And all his pomp and splendour, all his power,
Would vanish. But I cannot say the word;
He will not let me. Come, amuse me, fool!

L'ANGELY: Is not life, sire, a thing of bitterness?

THE KING: It is. Man is a shadow.

L'ANGELY: And a king
The miserablest creature on this earth.

THE KING: It gives me pleasure when you speak like that.
I wish that I were dead. In all the world
You are the only man I ever found
Worth listening to. I often wonder why
You care to live. What are you? A poor fool--
A puppet that I jerk to make me laugh.

L'ANGELY: I live on out of curiosity.
The puppet of the king, I sit and watch
The antics of the puppet of the priest!

THE KING: Yes, that is what I am. You speak the truth.
Could Satan not become a cardinal,
And take possession of my very soul?

L'ANGELY: I think that's what has happened.

THE KING: He loves blood,
The cardinal! It was the Huguenots
Yesterday that he wanted to behead,
And now it is the duellists. Blood! Blood!
He cannot live unless he lives in blood.

[L'ANGELY _makes a sign. _ MARION DE LORME _and the_
MARQUIS DE NANGIS _enter. _

MARION: Pardon!

THE KING: For whom?

MARION: Didier.

NANGIS: And the Marquis of Saverny.