Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805). Wilhelm Tell.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
Act IV
Scene IIITell.(enters with his crossbow). Through this ravine he needs must come. There is
No other way to Küssnacht. Here I’ll do it!
The ground is everything I could desire.
Yon elder bush will hide me from his view,
And from that point my shaft is sure to hit.
The straitness of the gorge forbids pursuit.
Now, Gessler, balance thine account with Heaven!
Thou must away from earth,—thy sand is run.
My bow was bent on forest game alone;
No thoughts of murder rested on my soul.
But thou hast scared me from my dream of peace;
The milk of human kindness thou hast turn’d
To rankling poison in my breast; and made
Appalling deeds familiar to my soul.
He who could make his own child’s head his mark,
Can speed his arrow to his foeman’s heart.
Must be protected, tyrant, from thy rage!
When last I drew my bow—with trembling hand—
And thou, with fiendishly remorseless glee
Forced me to level at my own boy’s head,
When I, imploring pity, writhed before thee,
Then in the anguish of my soul, I vow’d
A fearful oath, which met God’s ear alone,
That when my bow next wing’d an arrow’s flight,
Its aim should be thy heart. The vow I made,
Amid the hellish torments of that moment,
I hold a sacred debt, and I will pay it.
Yet would the Emperor not have stretch’d his power,
So far as thou hast done. He sent thee here
To deal forth law—stern law—for he is wroth;
But not to wanton with unbridled will
In every cruelty, with fiend-like joy:—
There lives a God to punish and avenge.
My precious jewel now,—my chiefest treasure—
A mark I’ll set thee, which the cry of grief
Could never penetrate,—but thou shalt pierce it,—
And thou, my trusty bowstring, that so oft
For sport has served me faithfully and well,
Desert me not in this dread hour of need,—
Only be true this once, my own good cord,
That hast so often wing’d the biting shaft:—
For shouldst thou fly successless from my hand,
I have no second to send after thee.[Travellers pass over the stage.
Hewn for the way-worn traveller’s brief repose—
For here there is no home. Men hurry past
Each other, with quick step and careless look,
Nor stay to question of their grief. Here goes
The merchant, all anxiety,—the pilgrim,
With scanty furnished scrip,—the pious monk,
The scowling robber, and the jovial player,
The carrier with his heavy-laden horse,
That comes to us from the far haunts of men;
For every road conducts to the world’s end.
They all push onwards—every man intent
On his own several business—mine is murder![Sits down.
You hail’d your father’s safe return to home
From his long mountain toils; for, when he came,
He ever brought with him some little gift,—
A lovely Alpine flower—a curious bird—
Or elf-bolt such as on the hills are found.
But now he goes in quest of other game,
Sits in this gorge, with murder in his thoughts,
And for his enemy’s life-blood lies in wait.
But still it is of you alone he thinks,
Dear children. ’Tis to guard your innocence,
To shield you from the tyrant’s fell revenge,
He bends his bow to do a deed of blood![Rises.
Does not the huntsman, with unflinching heart,
Roam for whole days, when winter frosts are keen,
Leap at the risk of death from rock to rock,—
And climb the jagged, slippery steeps, to which
His limbs are glued by his own streaming blood—
And all to hunt a wretched chamois down?
A far more precious prize is now my aim—
The heart of that dire foe, who seeks my life.[Sprightly music heard in the distance, which comes gradually nearer.
The bow—been practised in the archer’s feats;
The bull’s eye many a time my shafts have hit,
And many a goodly prize have I brought home
From competitions. But this day I’ll make
My master-shot, and win what’s best to win
In the whole circuit of our mountain range.[A bridal party passes over the stage, and goes up the pass. T
Of Mörlischachen. A rich fellow he!
And has some half score pastures on the Alps.
He goes to fetch his bride from Imisee.
At Küssnacht there will be high feast to-night—
Come with us—ev’ry honest man is asked.
Take what Heaven sends! The times are heavy now,
And we must snatch at pleasure as it flies.
Here ’tis a bridal, there a burial.
Mischance befalls and misery enough.
In Glarus there has been a landslip, and
A whole side of the Glärnisch has fallen in.
There is stability for nought on earth.
I spoke with one but now, from Baden come,
Who said a knight was on his way to court,
And, as he rode along, a swarm of wasps
Surrounded him, and settling on his horse,
So fiercely stung the beast, that it fell dead,
And he proceeded to the court on foot.
Some horrid deeds against the course of nature.
There needs no prodigy to herald them.
And sits at home untroubled with his kin.
If his ill neighbour will not let him rest.[T
You are from Uri, are you not? His grace
The Governor’s expected thence to-day.
The streams are flooded by the heavy rains,
And all the bridges have been swept away.[T
Where you obstruct his passage down the pass?
Is close behind me, riding down the pass.[Exit T
When all the bridges have been carried down?
An Alpine torrent’s nothing after that.
And tell them, that the Governor’s at hand.[Exit.
It had gone down with every soul on board:—
Some folks are proof’ gainst fire and water both.[Looking round.
Where has the huntsman gone with whom I spoke?[Exit.
Gessl.Say what you will; I am the Emperor’s liege,
And how to please him my first thought must be.
He did not send me here to fawn and cringe,
And coax these boors into good humour. No!
Obedience he must have. The struggle’s this:
Is king or peasant to be sovereign here?
In Altdorf—or to try the people’s hearts—
All this I knew before. I set it up
That they might learn to bend those stubborn necks
They carry far too proudly—and I placed
What well I knew their pride could never brook
Full in the road, which they perforce must pass,
That, when their eye fell on it, they might call
That lord to mind whom they too much forget.
Great projects are at work, and hatching now.
The imperial house seeks to extend its power.
Those vast designs of conquest which the sire
Has gloriously begun, the son will end.
This petty nation is a stumbling-block—
One way or other, it must be put down.[They are about to pass on. A
Stand back, I say.
My wretched orphans cry for bread. Have pity,
Pity, my lord, upon our sore distress!
Kind sir, who on the brow of the abyss,
Mows the unowner’d grass from craggy shelves,
To which the very cattle dare not climb.
By Heaven! a sad and pitiable life!
I pray you set the wretched fellow free.
How great soever may be his offence,
His horrid trade is punishment enough.[To A
You shall have justice. To the castle bring
Your suit. This is no place to deal with it.
Until your grace gives me my husband back.
Six months already has he been shut up,
And waits the sentence of a judge in vain.
Vice-regent of the Emperor—of Heaven.
Then do thy duty,—as thou hopest for justice
From Him who rules above, show it to us!
No, no, by Heaven, I’ve nothing more to lose—
Thou stir’st not, Viceroy, from this spot, until
Thou dost me fullest justice. Knit thy brows,
And roll thine eyes—I fear not. Our distress
Is so extreme, so boundless, that we care
No longer for thine anger.
Give way, or else my horse shall ride you down.
Here on the ground I lie,
I and my children. Let the wretched orphans
Be trodden by thy horse into the dust!
It will not be the worst that thou hast done.
Trampled the Emperor’s lands beneath thy feet.
Oh, I am but a woman! Were I man,
I’d find some better thing to do, than here
Lie grovelling in the dust.[The music of the bridal party is again heard from the top of the pass, but more softly.
Drag her away, lest I forget myself,
And do some deed I may repent me of.
The pass is block’d up by a bridal train.
Their tongues are all too bold—nor have they yet
Been tamed to due submission, as they shall be.
I must take order for the remedy;
I will subdue this stubborn mood of theirs,
This braggart spirit of freedom I will crush,
I will proclaim a new law through the land;
I will—[An arrow pierces him,—he puts his hand on his heart and is about to sink—with a feeble voice.
Oh God, have mercy on my soul!
Address yourself for mercy to your God!
You are a dying man.
Now are our homesteads free, and innocence
From thee is safe: thou’lt be our curse no more.[T
Away, for help—pursue the murderer!
Unhappy man, is this to be your end?
You would not listen to my warning words.
That they make music to a murder? Silence![Music breaks off suddenly. People continue to flock in.
Speak, if you can, my lord. Have you no charge
To trust me with?[G
Where shall I take you to?
To Küssnacht? What you say I can’t make out.
Oh, do not grow impatient! Leave all thought
Of earthly things and make your peace with Heaven.[The whole marriage party gather round the dying man.
About his heart;—his eyes grow dim and glazed.
Have you no touch of feeling, that your eyes
Gloat on a sight so horrible as this?
Help me—take hold. What, will not one assist
To pull the torturing arrow from his breast?
Your power is at end. ’Twere best forbear.
Our country’s foe has fallen. We will brook
No further violence. We are free men.
Fear and obedience at an end so soon?[To the soldiers of the guard who are thronging in.
You see, my friends, the bloody piece of work
Has here been done. ’Tis now too late for help,
And to pursue the murderer were vain.
We’ve other things to think of. On to Küssnacht.
And let us save that fortress for the King!
For in a moment such as this, all ties
Of order, fealty and faith, are rent.
And we can trust to no man’s loyalty.[As he is going out with the soldiers, six F
Death hurries on with hasty stride,
No respite man from him may gain,
He cuts him down, when life’s full tide
Is throbbing strong in every vein.
Prepared or not the call to hear,
He must before his Judge appear.[While they are repeating the two last lines, the curtain falls.