Life Is A Dream [1]
good story, with strong, rapid, and picturesque action and situation, was set before them.
ACT I
SCENE I--A pass of rocks, over which a storm is rolling away, and the sun setting: in the foreground, half-way down, a fortress.
(Enter first from the topmost rock Rosaura, as from horseback, in man's attire; and, after her, Fife.)
ROSAURA. There, four-footed Fury, blast Engender'd brute, without the wit Of brute, or mouth to match the bit Of man--art satisfied at last? Who, when thunder roll'd aloof, Tow'rd the spheres of fire your ears Pricking, and the granite kicking Into lightning with your hoof, Among the tempest-shatter'd crags Shattering your luckless rider Back into the tempest pass'd? There then lie to starve and die, Or find another Phaeton Mad-mettled as yourself; for I, Wearied, worried, and for-done, Alone will down the mountain try, That knits his brows against the sun.
FIFE (as to his mule). There, thou mis-begotten thing, Long-ear'd lightning, tail'd tornado, Griffin-hoof-in hurricano, (I might swear till I were almost Hoarse with roaring Asonante) Who forsooth because our betters Would begin to kick and fling You forthwith your noble mind Must prove, and kick me off behind, Tow'rd the very centre whither Gravity was most inclined. There where you have made your bed In it lie; for, wet or dry, Let what will for me betide you, Burning, blowing, freezing, hailing; Famine waste you: devil ride you: Tempest baste you black and blue: (To Rosaura.) There! I think in downright railing I can hold my own with you.
ROS. Ah, my good Fife, whose merry loyal pipe, Come weal, come woe, is never out of tune What, you in the same plight too?
FIFE. Ay; And madam--sir--hereby desire, When you your own adventures sing Another time in lofty rhyme, You don't forget the trusty squire Who went with you Don-quixoting.
ROS. Well, my good fellow--to leave Pegasus Who scarce can serve us than our horses worse-- They say no one should rob another of The single satisfaction he has left Of singing his own sorrows; one so great, So says some great philosopher, that trouble Were worth encount'ring only for the sake Of weeping over--what perhaps you know Some poet calls the 'luxury of woe.'
FIFE. Had I the poet or philosopher In the place of her that kick'd me off to ride, I'd test his theory upon his hide. But no bones broken, madam--sir, I mean?--
ROS. A scratch here that a handkerchief will heal-- And you?--
FIFE. A scratch in /quiddity/, or kind: But not in '/quo/'--my wounds are all behind. But, as you say, to stop this strain, Which, somehow, once one's in the vein, Comes clattering after--there again!-- What are we twain--deuce take't!--we two, I mean, to do--drench'd through and through-- Oh, I shall choke of rhymes, which I believe Are all that we shall have to live on here.
ROS. What, is our victual gone too?--
FIFE. Ay, that brute Has carried all we had away with her, Clothing, and cate, and all.
ROS. And now the sun, Our only friend and guide, about to sink Under the stage of earth.
FIFE. And enter Night, With Capa y Espada--and--pray heaven! With but her lanthorn also.
ROS. Ah, I doubt To-night, if any, with a dark one--or Almost burnt out after a month's consumption. Well! well or ill, on horseback or afoot, This is the gate that lets me into Poland; And, sorry welcome as she gives a guest Who writes his own arrival on her rocks In his own blood-- Yet better on her stony threshold die, Than live on unrevenged in Muscovy.
FIFE. Oh, what a soul some women have--I mean Some men--
ROS. Oh, Fife, Fife, as you love me, Fife, Make yourself perfect in that little part, Or all will go to ruin!
FIFE. Oh, I will, Please God we find some one to try it on. But, truly, would not any one believe Some fairy had exchanged us as we lay Two tiny foster-children in one cradle?
ROS. Well, be that as it may, Fife, it reminds me Of what perhaps I should have thought before, But better late than never--You know I love you, As you, I know, love me, and loyally Have follow'd me thus far
ACT I
SCENE I--A pass of rocks, over which a storm is rolling away, and the sun setting: in the foreground, half-way down, a fortress.
(Enter first from the topmost rock Rosaura, as from horseback, in man's attire; and, after her, Fife.)
ROSAURA. There, four-footed Fury, blast Engender'd brute, without the wit Of brute, or mouth to match the bit Of man--art satisfied at last? Who, when thunder roll'd aloof, Tow'rd the spheres of fire your ears Pricking, and the granite kicking Into lightning with your hoof, Among the tempest-shatter'd crags Shattering your luckless rider Back into the tempest pass'd? There then lie to starve and die, Or find another Phaeton Mad-mettled as yourself; for I, Wearied, worried, and for-done, Alone will down the mountain try, That knits his brows against the sun.
FIFE (as to his mule). There, thou mis-begotten thing, Long-ear'd lightning, tail'd tornado, Griffin-hoof-in hurricano, (I might swear till I were almost Hoarse with roaring Asonante) Who forsooth because our betters Would begin to kick and fling You forthwith your noble mind Must prove, and kick me off behind, Tow'rd the very centre whither Gravity was most inclined. There where you have made your bed In it lie; for, wet or dry, Let what will for me betide you, Burning, blowing, freezing, hailing; Famine waste you: devil ride you: Tempest baste you black and blue: (To Rosaura.) There! I think in downright railing I can hold my own with you.
ROS. Ah, my good Fife, whose merry loyal pipe, Come weal, come woe, is never out of tune What, you in the same plight too?
FIFE. Ay; And madam--sir--hereby desire, When you your own adventures sing Another time in lofty rhyme, You don't forget the trusty squire Who went with you Don-quixoting.
ROS. Well, my good fellow--to leave Pegasus Who scarce can serve us than our horses worse-- They say no one should rob another of The single satisfaction he has left Of singing his own sorrows; one so great, So says some great philosopher, that trouble Were worth encount'ring only for the sake Of weeping over--what perhaps you know Some poet calls the 'luxury of woe.'
FIFE. Had I the poet or philosopher In the place of her that kick'd me off to ride, I'd test his theory upon his hide. But no bones broken, madam--sir, I mean?--
ROS. A scratch here that a handkerchief will heal-- And you?--
FIFE. A scratch in /quiddity/, or kind: But not in '/quo/'--my wounds are all behind. But, as you say, to stop this strain, Which, somehow, once one's in the vein, Comes clattering after--there again!-- What are we twain--deuce take't!--we two, I mean, to do--drench'd through and through-- Oh, I shall choke of rhymes, which I believe Are all that we shall have to live on here.
ROS. What, is our victual gone too?--
FIFE. Ay, that brute Has carried all we had away with her, Clothing, and cate, and all.
ROS. And now the sun, Our only friend and guide, about to sink Under the stage of earth.
FIFE. And enter Night, With Capa y Espada--and--pray heaven! With but her lanthorn also.
ROS. Ah, I doubt To-night, if any, with a dark one--or Almost burnt out after a month's consumption. Well! well or ill, on horseback or afoot, This is the gate that lets me into Poland; And, sorry welcome as she gives a guest Who writes his own arrival on her rocks In his own blood-- Yet better on her stony threshold die, Than live on unrevenged in Muscovy.
FIFE. Oh, what a soul some women have--I mean Some men--
ROS. Oh, Fife, Fife, as you love me, Fife, Make yourself perfect in that little part, Or all will go to ruin!
FIFE. Oh, I will, Please God we find some one to try it on. But, truly, would not any one believe Some fairy had exchanged us as we lay Two tiny foster-children in one cradle?
ROS. Well, be that as it may, Fife, it reminds me Of what perhaps I should have thought before, But better late than never--You know I love you, As you, I know, love me, and loyally Have follow'd me thus far