Scene 1
SETTING: A forest near Avero.
AT RISE: The COUNT anxiously paces the stage. The DUKE enters. Both are in hunting
apparel.
DUKE
1I have left my huntsmen in pursuit of a wild boar, don Duarte, thus affording us the
privacy you requested. I cannot fathom, however, for what perturbed and perplexed
motive, when I have called this hunt specially to honor your arrival, you wish to
leave the chase and speak to me alone.
COUNT
2Enough dissembling. Unsheathe your steel, which, like Numa, that saintly king, you’ve
forgotten at your side. The naked blade you see before you, Your Grace, will shortly
give my reply. The sword, not the pen, must serve as tongue for the aggrieved gentleman,
and mute, it broadcasts your shame.
(Brief sword fight; the DUKE knocks the COUNT’S sword away.)
DUKE
3The sword is indeed a tongue, for it resembles one—and since yours has led you to
babble baseless accusations, let us hold our tongues and allow our blades to speak
for us. Unless you wish to explain yourself in the time I give you, which will be
short, as you have been short with me. My honor owes you nothing.
COUNT
4Splendid! You think you can conceal the crimes which heaven itself makes known?
COUNT
6Try as you may try to hide behind your age and dignity, sir, you cannot fool me. The
proof is in this letter, signed and sealed by your own hand.
(thrusting the letter at the DUKE)
Take it—it’s yours. The servant you bribed to kill me is bronze-like in the strength
of his loyalty, and your offer could not breach so thick a wall. And seeing as you
put your order in writing, you should not wonder when I say you’d rather wield a pen
than a sword.
DUKE
7I, order you killed?
COUNT
8This seal, is it not yours?
COUNT
10And can you deny this signature?
DUKE
11Am I dreaming this or am I mad?
COUNT
12Read the letter and you’ll see why I seek my revenge.
DUKE
13
(reading) “For the retribution of certain crimes, which may only be satisfied by the death of
don Duarte, the Count of Estremoz, I place my trust in you, his personal valet. Prove
my trust to be well founded, and act as the agent of my revenge. This accomplished,
make haste to my castle, where I will safeguard and reward you for the danger in which
you have placed yourself for my sake. Once you have read this letter, return it to
the messenger, remembering always the importance of both haste and secrecy. THE DUKE.”
COUNT
14I know not what injury the house of Estremoz, of which I am Count, has done you to
so debase a noble breast that flows with the ancient blood of the Dukes of Avero.
DUKE
15Some traitor has forged my signature and seal, a man who harbors a secret grievance,
and who intends with your death to effect my perpetual disgrace. Heaven, which knows
the author of this crime, knows too that never, in presence or in absence, in act,
in speech, or in writing, have I ever sought your harm. I’ve a feeling it won’t take
long to discover our cowardly author. In the meantime, however, while I confess the
justice of your complaint, I beg that you suspend your righteous anger and calm your
troubled breast.
COUNT
16I am contented, Your Grace… for now.
(Two HUNTERS enter.)
HUNTER 2
18We went after it, but it had these huge tusks, and even with the hounds on its scent it managed to get away, and—
DUKE
19My friends! I’m sure you’ve left not a single deer or boar alive in this forest. How
is the catch?
HUNTER 1
20Let’s just say your mules won’t be going home with light loads.
(FIGUEREDO enters, running.)
FIGUEREDO
21(aside) That dastardly secretary!
DUKE
22Figueredo! Why are you in such a hurry?
FIGUEREDO
23Thank God I’ve found you—treason, Your Grace! A plot hatched by your secretary, Ruy
Lorenzo, to kill don Duarte! You owe me your life, sir.
COUNT
24(aside) I can guess the reason for this secretary’s ill-plotted revenge. I seduced his sister,
the beautiful Leonela, and once I’d had my way, I ditched her.
DUKE
25Thank heaven, which justifies the innocent! How was this plot exposed?
FIGUEREDO
26The traitor hired a young thug and, for good measure, told him that you, sir, gave
the command. But this thug happened to be in love, and men in love, as you know, are
as free with their tongues as with their money. They say the bed is a rack where women
torture men, not with ropes but with kisses. He told the plan to his mistress and
she swore secrecy. Still, whatever a man plants in a woman is bound to come out one
way or another. If she conceived through the ear, she gave birth through the mouth,
and by noontime everyone in Avero knew. They arrested the thug, but Ruy Lorenzo escaped
with his footman.
DUKE
27You see, don Duarte, how Providence has revealed the truth and proven my innocence.
COUNT
28I know not what to say—only that your secretary’s deceitful plot was the root of my
own too hasty action. Still, who may not be fooled by a false pen?
DUKE
29Henceforth I’ll take more care in my choice of a secretary.
COUNT
30If discretion is what matters, I suggest you seek loyalty over intelligence. (aside} Leonela’s revenge is behind all this. Her cause is a just one, so I’ll have to make
certain the Duke doesn’t find out.
DUKE
31For such a traitor, the greatest torture is but little. Whoever brings me the culprit,
dead or alive, wins his forfeited estate.
HUNTER 2
32Not a soul in the county will fail to take you up on that one, sir.
DUKE
33His punishment will be an example to all the kingdom.
COUNT
34I owe you my life, my friend.
(BLACKOUT)
Scene 2
SETTING: Another part of the forest.
AT RISE: TARSO bursts onstage, pursued by MELISA.
MELISA
35You’d leave me just like that, you traitor?
TARSO
36Melisa, go bark up someone else’s tree. Your love just doesn’t make me feel the way
it used to. It’s been half a year since we were together, and I’ve gotten over whatever
illness made me love you. I put my love on a diet, and little by little, I’ve recovered
my health. I’m not mad anymore because I’m not a poet anymore. My God, the poems I
used to make up for you left and right! I climbed up Mt. Parnassus to borrow words
from the Muses themselves, but all I ended up with was blisters on my feet. I called
you my “moon,” my “evening star”… There wasn’t a single thing about you whose praises
I didn’t sing. I made up couplets about your laugh, your sweet smile, your white skin,
your dark eyes, your haughty airs, your silence, your talking, your sighing, your
walking, your crying, your sitting, your coughing, your spitting… I think one time
I even composed a sonnet about that little drop that hangs off the end of your nose.
Now I’ve escaped from the trap you caught me in, thank God, and I don’t give a damn
about you or your love.
MELISA
37Tarso, you’re such a… man! How could a little time apart make you lose all your regard
for me?
TARSO
38You deserve as much regard as Judas, and you’re about as faithful. Don’t think you
can just pretty up your face and expect me to come running back to you.
MELISA
39Fine! Then give me back all those love tokens I gave you, those pretty little ribbons
and locks of my hair…
TARSO
40You think I still keep those in a pouch around my neck like I used to? As if I’d rub
salt in the wound. Those locks of hair you used to tie up my hopes, those cruel ribbons,
roses, letters, cards… They had me bewitched, so I did what I had to to break the
spell: I burned them. I even burned the pouch—it was contaminated.
MELISA
41
(crying) I can’t believe I have to put up with this!
TARSO
42Cry me a river. I know you too well by now—you’re a tricky one. Well you’re not going
to trick me, by God, so you can just cry until you piss yourself.
TARSO
44What a show! I get it. You can turn off the spigots now; you’re making a mess.
MELISA
45I’ll get you for this.
MELISA
47By… by getting married, you pig.
TARSO
48You might as well beat yourself with your own shoe.
(He begins to exit.)
MELISA
51You’re going to leave just like that?
TARSO
52Yes, just like this, see? Walking.
(He begins to exit again.)
MELISA
53Wait! I bet I know why you’re doing this.
MELISA
55You’re just jealous of Mireno.
TARSO
56Me, jealous of Mireno? Oh, that’s a good one! I’m proud to serve him, and his father
Lauro, and to eat at their table. He’s a good, upstanding man, and for my part you’re
welcome to him. But he’s a free spirit, and I don’t think he’ll be falling in love
with anyone any time soon. His father brought him here as a baby, and you know what
people say, that even though he walks around just like us, if you take off his rough
cloak, like the bark off a tree, you’ll find some kind of nobility hidden underneath.
There’s not a single shepherd in all of El Miño who doesn’t look up to him, or a girl
who doesn’t sigh when he walks by, but Fortune seems to have made him as deaf to their
sighs as Narcissus was to Echo. And now, since he’s ignoring you, you come running
back to me. Well there’s no entrance here; this door is locked.
MELISA
57You really don’t love me, do you?
MELISA
59
(crossing herself) Well I swear by God, I’ll make you pay.
TARSO
60You’ll make me pay?
MELISA
61That’s right, you’ll see soon enough. There’s nothing like a little rejection to change
a man’s mind.
MELISA
63Mark my words. There’s a certain shepherd I know of… When love goes astray, a shepherd
will always bring it home again.
(MELISA exits.)
TARSO
64Oh yeah, well good riddance. (Aside) I have to say, I’m a little nervous about what she might do. Anyone who isn’t afraid
of her wouldn’t be afraid of the Devil himself!
(MIRENO enters.)
MIRENO
65Tarso! I’ve been looking for you all day.
TARSO
66Ah, Mireno! I’ve been having it out with Melisa for the last hour. The more she cried,
the harder it was for me to keep from laughing. But what’s new?
MIRENO
67Look, I know how much you care about me, which is why I’ve come to talk to you.
TARSO
68Whatever it is, you can tell me. Your father brought us up together, and even though
I’m old enough to have a household of my own, you know I’d rather stay and serve in
yours.
MIRENO
69You don’t have to prove it to me, Tarso. You may be humble, but you’re a smart one.
I’m about to toss my hope, like a javelin, as far as I can, and I want you to come
with me and see if we can catch it. I’ve been down lately, filled with all these high
and lofty thoughts, though I don’t know where I get them. It seems unfair that Fate
made me a shepherd, when it could just as easily have made me a nobleman. I feel stuck,
unable to rise above my miserable birth. I’m ashamed to say it, but sometimes I’ve
even wondered if I’m actually Lauro’s son, or if maybe he took me from some nobleman’s
house as a baby. I must have asked him a thousand times, when we’re alone, whether
by any chance he used to have some higher station in life that he was cast down from,
as it happens to so many people. I know we’re not from around here, and even though
he dresses like a shepherd, he talks more like someone from the court. Every time
I ask, though, he dashes my hopes, telling me all sorts of long stories that all end
up at the same point: I’m nothing but the son of peasants. I know this should satisfy
me, but it just makes me more anxious to get away and follow my guiding star—somehow
I know it has good things in store for me. Besides, even if I was born poor, think
how much more pride I could take in pulling myself up by my bootstraps. If you want
to join me, Tarso, for better or worse, it’s up to you. I’ve made up my mind; now
you make up yours.
TARSO
70It’s enough for me to see you this excited—you’ve studied with the priest enough to
know what you’re doing. I’m in! I do worry about your father, though.
MIRENO
71If I succeed, Tarso, I’ll make him forget all his troubles.
TARSO
72When do you want to leave?
MIRENO
75This very minute!
TARSO
76What about money?
MIRENO
77I sold two oxen, and I’ve got the money right here. First thing, we’ll go straight
to Avero, where we’ll find you a hat and a sword!
TARSO
78I just hope we don’t wind up running home like dogs with our tails between our legs!
Scene 3
SETTING: Another part of the forest.
AT RISE: RUY steps out into the open, while VASCO stays back.
VASCO
79Sir, get back into the trees! I swear we won’t be here an hour before the posse catches
us. Every last peasant in the neighborhood is after us like hounds after a hare, and
when they catch us, they’ll crucify us. And we won’t be remembered, like Christ—we’ll
be dismembered!
RUY
80I’m afraid we’re not long for this world, Vasco. Even if we found a way to escape,
we wouldn’t last for long on our own in the forest.
VASCO
81Steel is no match against the arms of hunger.
RUY
82I forged the Duke’s signature on a letter in order to avenge my sister, who was dishonored
by don Duarte, and when that plan failed, I sought out someone to kill him for me.
Still, the plans of the ill-fated always come to naught, and since I am such a one,
let my life end now. It’s wrong to die of hunger when there is a sword at hand.
VASCO
83Is it really possible that someone who calls himself a man, like you, tried and true,
would go to such great lengths to defend his sister’s honor? I mean, how do you know
for sure she didn’t want the grapes picked from her vine?
RUY
84Can you doubt it? Are there not thousands of cases in which—
(TARSO and MIRENO enter.)
TARSO
85
(ad lib.) …I’m telling you, Melisa swore it to me…
RUY
86I hear people coming.
TARSO
88…It’ll be a pretty sight when she finds out I’ve skipped out on her!
MIRENO
89You haven’t repaid her love very well.
VASCO
90Heavens, preserve us!
TARSO
91Hand her over to Pontius Pilate. She’s more fickle than a band of gypsies, and her
love comes with more frills and flourishes than a song played on the organ.
VASCO
92Save us, Saint Anthony—blind them!
RUY
93Calm down! It’s only two peasants, and they’re completely unarmed. They won’t do us
any harm. Now, come on.
(to MIRENO and TARSO)
Where are you headed, my friends?
MIRENO
94Good day, sirs! To town, to stock up on a few things. And you? This path leads away
from the royal road to those huts at the foot of the mountain.
RUY
95My good shepherd, your words declare your kindness, so I’ll be frank. To avenge my
sister’s dishonor, I tried to kill a powerful man, and now that the Duke has discovered
my honorable plot, he has ordered his people to search this wilderness until they
have captured me. Seeing no way out, I’ve taken the high road.
(offering MIRENO his sword)
My life, though honorable, has come to an end; now please, make it quick.
MIRENO
96What a sad tale! If the same miserable fate that made me a poor shepherd had given
me more courage, I’d take up your cause myself. What we can do, if you’ll take my
advice, is exchange clothes. Wearing these, you’ll be able to get away, and bide your
time until your fortunes change, as I’m sure they will.
RUY
97May heaven reward you for this favor, since I cannot.
MIRENO
98Let’s go into those trees and change our.
(RUY and MIRENO exit.)
TARSO
99Does this mean I have to wear that get-up of yours? It has more bits and pieces than
the innards on a butcher’s table.
TARSO
101Well, you’ll have to give me a lesson or two in how to put them on. They’ve got more
entrances and exits than the city of Troy.
VASCO
102Let’s go, you’ll figure it out soon enough.
(They exit. DORISTO, LARISO and DENIO cross the stage, searching. MIRENO, RUY and
VASCO enter, having exchanged costumes.)
VASCO
104Over there. He still can’t figure out how to untangle those breeches.
MIRENO
105You should get going.
RUY
106Time will not erase the memory of this favor.
VASCO
107I’m a footman stuffed like a sausage into a shepherd’s casing.
(RUY and VASCO exit.)
MIRENO
108The purebred horse, left to its own devices, is content with the grass of the field
and the hard iron bit. But the moment its owner places a gold-enameled harness on
its head, it starts puffing and snorting and tearing up the grass, harness jingling
wildly. In the same way I have grown up among the oak trees, speaking a rough tongue
and wearing a rougher cloak. Yet as with the horse, this courtly dress has awakened
my nobler thoughts, my pride increased by proud attire.
(TARSO enters.)
TARSO
109Would you look at these fabrications they’re making me wear? I can’t wrap my head
around such highfalutin figaments. Look at all these crisscrossed streets and intersections. Have you ever seen so
many slices, except on a melon? Is any astrologer’s chart this convoluted? It’s been
an hour and I still can’t find a pocket.
MIRENO
110That’s enough, Tarso.
TARSO
111You shouldn’t be surprised: they’re clearly not the work of man.
MIRENO
112Well, what else would they be?
TARSO
113Magic! These are worthy of Merlin himself—even the wisest men couldn’t make heads
or tails of them. But anyway, now that I’ve been footmanified, and you’re a courtier, what do we do?
MIRENO
114We head for Avero. This outfit has lifted up my thoughts and I think we should aim
even higher.
TARSO
115You may want to fly right up to heaven, but we’ll probably end up back down in the
mud. Still, since you’re a new man now, and you might want to pass as a gentleman,
shouldn’t you consider changing your name? Mireno doesn’t sound very lordly to me.
MIRENO
116You’re right. I’m not a shepherd anymore, and Mireno no longer suits me. Don Dionís
is a renowned and respected name throughout Portugal. From this day forward, that’s
who I’ll be.
TARSO
117Not a bad choice. The kings we’ve had by that name have brought plenty of honor to
it. Of course, you’ll need to give me a new name too, one that fits these new breeches
of mine.
MIRENO
118Choose one yourself.
TARSO
119Let’s see… I choose, I mean, if it’s all right with you…
TARSO
121Brito Gómez. What do you think?
TARSO
123That’s pretty good! We’re not even bishops, and we’ve given ourselves new confirmation
names.
(DORISTO, LARISO and DENIO enter, with ropes.)
LARISO
124Unless they can fly, they got to be somewhere in this forest.
DENIO
125Let’s look for ’em in the bushes.
LARISO
126Ain’t that them?
LARISO
128I swear, they look just like what we was told.
DORISTO
129They ain’t got any weapons—tie ’em up.
LARISO
131Yield to the King!
DORISTO
132Yield to the Mayor!
(They catch MIRENO and TARSO from behind and tie them up.)
MIRENO
133What’s going on?
TARSO
134What… Why are you tying us up?
DORISTO
135Oho! You know how to be all smart when you’re plotting to murder the Count, and then
you ask us why we’re tying you up?
TARSO
136What Count? What murder? Do I even know you?
DORISTO
137You’ll get your answers from the hangman, when he’s stringing you up like a fish by
the guts, and by the gullet too.
MIRENO
138If I only had a sword, I’d make you regret this.
TARSO
139It’s these clothes that have landed us in this mess. Is this the reward we get for
our services, don Dionís? What were you thinking?
DENIO
140What are you yammering on about?
TARSO
141I don’t want to be Brito anymore, I want to be Tarso. I want to be a shepherd, not
a footman. Take away these breeches and give me back my cloak. If I’m going to starve
like the Hebrews in the desert, then send me back to be a slave in Egypt.
DORISTO
142Enough—let’s get going to Avero. We’ll get us a fine new gallows in the village for
this!
MIRENO
143Take heart, we’re going to Avero after all. When the Duke recognizes us for who we
are, these goons will see how wrong they were.
(BLACKOUT)
Scene 4
SETTING: A room in the DUKE’S palace.
AT RISE: JUANA is alone onstage. ANTONIO enters, in traveling clothes.
JUANA
144Antonio, cousin!
ANTONIO
145Hush, don’t call me that! You must act as if you don’t know me, so the Duke won’t
find out I’m in Avero. I’m on my way to Galicia on behalf of King Juan of Castile,
but I simply had to make a detour here to see if rumor lies when it says that the
Duke of Avero’s daughters are the most beautiful girls in all of Spain. As their lady
in waiting, tell me, is it true?
JUANA
146There are surely sights here to see and to admire, but you mustn’t be in such a hurry
that you deny me entirely the pleasure of your company.
ANTONIO
147My dear Juana, if the Duke recognizes me, he’ll oblige me to stay a while, and I’ll
be in danger of falling out of favor with the King.
JUANA
148Well in that case, I suppose I’ll have to let you go. Still, if the Duke finds out
that Antonio de Barcelo, the Count of Penela, has been in his house in secret, when
he could have served you properly, he will be quite put out. No gentleman has ever
visited without a royal welcome.
ANTONIO
149I know, I know—the Duke is of royal blood. But tell me, is his daughters’ beauty really
what the world makes it out to be?
JUANA
150Do you ask out of curiosity, or has blind Cupid by any chance struck you with one
of his arrows?
ANTONIO
151Cupid’s sparks can hardly make me love them when I haven’t yet had the pleasure of
seeing them. Call it boyish curiosity that brings me to Avero.
JUANA
152I’m sorry to hear that. Our great nation is supposed to outdo all others where love
is concerned, and since everyone knows Castilians fall in love at first sight, we
Portuguese really ought to fall in love at first hearing. As for the Duke’s daughters,
they deserve all the praise that comes their way. The older one, Madalena, would make
Clytia jealous all over again—you remember, she was that nymph who was so jealous
when the sun left her, she sat and watched him till she turned into a sunflower. It
looks like she’s going to marry the Count of Vasconcelos. And then there’s Serafina,
whose beauty is truly divine.
ANTONIO
153And which of the two do you think is the most beautiful?
JUANA
154I’d have to lean toward the older one, though half the town would be quick to set
me straight. There’s no point arguing over taste, and even less so over love; still,
Avero is split into two camps, and both have a strong case.
ANTONIO
155Well, I must see them this afternoon, and then be on my way.
JUANA
156I can arrange things so their beauty might make a few stabs at your heart.
ANTONIO
157Serafina or Madalena?
JUANA
158Either—they’re both stunning. But look, here they come with the Duke. Let’s hide!
(They hide. The DUKE, COUNT, SERAFINA and MADALENA enter.)
DUKE
159I tell you, don Duarte, everything will be done just so.
COUNT
160Since the King has consented that your eldest daughter shall be the wife of the Count
of Vasconcelos, Your Grace may now write to him that, with his approval, the beautiful
doña Serafina will be mine.
COUNT
162I believe that he will favor this match as well.
DUKE
163Yes; however, let us not tell Serafina until we know for sure. She’s still just a
girl and doesn’t yet know that her freedom will soon be captive to the yoke of matrimony.
JUANA
164
(to ANTONIO) See how soon your wish has come true? Now tell me, what do you think?
ANTONIO
165I don’t know which one my soul is more drawn to. Doña Madalena is beautiful, but Serafina
is the very sun of Portugal. Through my eyes, my soul drinks flames of love mixed
with snow from the crystal glass of her pale divinity. Rumor has come up short in
her praise.
DUKE
166Come here, Madalena.
ANTONIO
167She is a phoenix of beauty.
DUKE
168
(to MADALENA) This is very important.
COUNT
169
(to SERAFINA) Since the Duke gives me leave, my seraphic angel, I wish to speak to you, if there
is courage enough in me that I may fly to a seraph’s height.
ANTONIO
170My soul is helpless, watching love’s slow and steady assault. Yet even if it succumbs,
I shall still feel myself victorious.
JUANA
171Cousin, I know you came here with your wits intact, but I’m afraid you may be leaving
them behind.
DUKE
172My daughter, the King does you a great honor. Consider how fortunate you are.
MADALENA
173My will is like wax. Your Grace may impress on it whatever seal most suits you, for
my part must be only that of quiet obedience.
DUKE
174A thousand times blessed is the father who hears such words.
COUNT
175
(to SERAFINA) You’ve raised my happiness to such heights, I’m afraid I may fall.
SERAFINA
176I neither understand these philosophies, sir, nor are they to my taste.
COUNT
177A seraph can easily grasp the heart and soul of such a matter. Do not say that you
don’t understand, my seraph, what you know perfectly well.
SERAFINA
178My Lord, how you talk!
COUNT
179I’m a man, what do you expect? God means us men to convey our intents with words,
for if we were seraphs like you, we would speak with our thoughts alone.
SERAFINA
180Is love always so verbose?
COUNT
181Should it not be?
SERAFINA
182I don’t trust boys or babblers, and Cupid would seem to be both.
COUNT
183Heaven, with a free hand, has made you perfect in every way.
ANTONIO
184How pale! How discreet! Did you hear how shrewdly she answered don Duarte? Now he gets on my nerves. The heavens have enameled the gold of my love with jealousy.
JUANA
185You don’t have much hope against a rival like him.
DUKE
186I’m still in need of a new secretary. Many have applied, but none seem capable of
the position. It will cost me a great deal to be without one at a time like this.
(DORISTO, LARISO and DENIO enter, with MIRENO and TARSO in tow.)
DORISTO
187Make him go faster!
LARISO
188Look, there’s the Duke.
TARSO
189Herod give me patience.
DENIO
190
(to DORISTO) You’re the mayor; go talk to ‘em.
DORISTO
191Afternoon, old man. I’m the mayor, and, umm, you’re the Duke.
DORISTO
193Well, you see, we knew, me and the blacksmith, and his wife, as how you wanted these
scoundrels arrested, so we went: me, and Bras Llorente, and Gil Bragado… And then
we talked with the constable, Pero Mínguez, and…
(to LARISO)
Don’t stand there like some dumb animal, come here and say the rest.
LARISO
194I don’t want to. You say it.
DORISTO
195I didn’t plan past this part. Well, in collusion, them two here is your thiefs, which
me and Gil Mingollo caught, just so’s to serve you. And now, you should do what the
village asks you to, Your Dukeness, and don’t forget what I said about that gallows.
DUKE
196What simplicity! I don’t know what they’re getting at, nor for what crime they have
taken these poor men prisoner. Release them, and tell me yourselves what offense you
have committed that they have brought you here like this.
(TARSO and MIRENO are freed.)
MIRENO
197
(kneeling) If it is an offense to have aided an unfortunate man chased and hunted by your people,
and if you consider it brash to have swapped clothes with him in order to save his
life, then I am guilty.
DUKE
198You helped my secretary to escape? Yes, I see that you’re wearing his clothes. Tell
me, traitor, why did you assist him?
MIRENO
199Do not insult me, Your Grace, or call me by that name. I am not used to being treated
with such contempt.
MIRENO
201I am not yet—but I will be. In attempting to be more than I was born with, I have
disdained that which I was and now look toward that which I am yet to be.
DUKE
202I have no idea what that means.
MADALENA
203(aside) What incredible boldness! He must have some strong stuff in him to be so fearless.
I hate to see him in such straits.
DUKE
204Did you know the traitor whom you helped? You must have, to have put yourself at such
great risk for his sake.
MIRENO
205I knew that he wanted to kill a man who had dishonored his sister, and that you, who
should have recognized his honorable intent, instead ordered his arrest. I helped
him escape, appalled that you would pursue him while favoring the man who compromised
his honor.
COUNT
206(aside) What’s this? Has the secret of what I did to Leonela already been spilled?
DUKE
207Do you know who has disgraced this woman?
MIRENO
208If only I did, Your Grace. If I knew…
DUKE
209This was surely some trick of his to deceive you. You know where he is, and if you
wish to go free, you will tell me.
MIRENO
210Heaven forbid, even if I did know where he was, that a man like me should be frightened
into committing such depravity!
DUKE
211Is it depravity, then, to reveal a traitor? Lock him up. Unless he has lost his senses
and his will to live, he’ll tell us where the man is hiding.
MADALENA
212(aside) I wish I could free him; a man of his demeanor doesn’t deserve such treatment.
DUKE
213
(to the COUNT) I fully intend to avenge you, sir.
TARSO
215I’d better get a healthy reward for all this!
DUKE
216Let’s be on our way—I wish to reply to the King.
TARSO
217A lot of good all these new clothes and names have done!
(LARISO and DENIO bustle TARSO and MIRENO offstage.)
DUKE
218
(to DORISTO) Submit a request to my council for whatever you desire as a reward, and they shall
pay you for your services.
DORISTO
219Sir, in return for all what we’ve done, we want you to build us a nice new gallows,
so’s we can hang the very finest men.
(The DUKE, COUNT and DORISTO exit.)
MADALENA
220Serafina, I hate to see that man taken off like a common criminal.
SERAFINA
221Indeed, he has such a fine bearing, I’m tempted to intercede on his behalf.
MADALENA
222You think he has a “fine bearing,” do you? That’s too bad; you wouldn’t be able to
free him even if you tried.
SERAFINA
223So you think.
(MADALENA and SERAFINA exit.)
JUANA
224Now, must you really go this afternoon?
ANTONIO
225Cousin! How could I, when I’m lost and blinded; when love, brave and cowardly love,
has plundered my soul and will? If only to see her beauty one more time, I’ll stay
the night.
JUANA
226Would you look at that! You truly are in love, aren’t you?
ANTONIO
227I fear, my dear, that Serafina’s spell will spell the end of all my life’s content.
(BLACKOUT)
(END OF ACT I)
