Scene VIII

(Prague. The garden of the imperial palace. To the right, a lower; to the left, an observatory, in front of which is a broad, low window, with Kepler's writing desk. Chairs and astronomical appliances. Lucifer, as Kepler's famulus on the podium. Courtiers and ladies walking about in groups in the garden, among them Eve, as Barbara, Kepler's wife. The Emperor Rudolph is in earnest conversation with Adam, as Kepler. In the distance a burning stake, at which a heretic is being put to death. Evening; later, night. Two courtiers pass in the foreground.)

FIRST COURTIER.
Who's warming yonder, heretic or witch?

SECOND COURTIER.
I do not know. No longer 'tis the mode
To take the interest we erstwhile felt.
The commonfolk alone now gather 'round
The stake, but not e'en they because of joy ;
They only look, and murmur to themselves.

FIRST COURTIER.
In my time, such events were festivals,
And all the court and the nobility,
The edifying spectacle would view. (Exeunt.)

LUCIFER.
A fire on this cool ev'ning 's not amiss,
And quite a while it has been burning, too ;
But yet, I fear, — there be strong likelihood
That it will die, extinguished, not by new
And manly principles ; there being none
In their indifference to feed the flame
With but a log; so I must freeze. Slight causes
Must e'er affect the fall of one great thought.

(Enters the tower.)
(Rudolph and Adam stepping to the foreground.)

RUDOLPH.
Now Kepler, cast my horoscope. Last night
I had an evil dream, and anxious wait,
To know in what conjunction stands my star.
Misfortunes in the court rose in the past.
There, by the Serpent's head.

ADAM.
Thou'lt see, my Lord.
That which thou dost command will be obeyed.

RUDOLPH.
When once the day's climacteric are o'er,
We'll start anew the work which we began ;
The work which unsuccessful now remains.
But I have been reading Hermes Trismagistus,
Synesius, Albertus, Paracelsus ;
The Key of Solomon, and other works.
I think I know where the mistake was made ;
When we did heat the black tellurium,
The raven and red lion did appear;
And then the duplex mercury developed.
From the conjunction of the planets twin,
Descended in the sediment the stone
Of the philosophers. But then, we lacked
The liquid fire, and the dry water, too;
So did not gain the glorious result:
The holy marriage, which into the veins
Of age, pours youth, and purest gold can make
From metal base.

ADAM.
I comprehend you, Sire.

RUDOLPH.
Now, one word more! Evil reports of thee,
Are circulating in the court, that thou
To the new doctrines, hast attached thyself;
The deeds of Holy Church dost criticise.
Now, while thy mother, as an odious witch,
In prison, ''neath the weightiest accusation
Lies, thou too, and justly, art suspected ;
So obstinate and unremitting, thou
Dost strive to gain her freedom.

ADAM.
Royal Lord,
Most certain 'tis, I am her son.

RUDOLPH.
My son,
The Holy Church, a truer mother is,
This world is good enough, just let it be;
Do not attempt to make it o'er again.
Have I not heaped upon thee honors great?
Thy father was the landlord of an inn;
But thy nobility, beyond all doubt
I placed, though surely 'twas no easy task ;
I raised thee to my throne ; gave thee a chance
To win the hand of lovely Barbara Müller,
And hence I say, be vigilant, my son.

(Exit.)

(Adam, lost in thought, stands oy the stairway, leading to his podium. Two courtiers come forward.)

THIRD COURTIER.
See, how absorbed is the astronomer!

FOURTH COURTIER.
'Tis jealousy doth ever torture him.
Poor fellow! it is evident that he
Cannot adapt himself to his new station,
But still betrays his peasant origin.

THIRD COURTIER.
And he cannot conceive, that a true knight,
While worshiping a woman, only sees
A goddess pure, for whom he'd gladly die;
If slander e'er so lightly touched her name,
His bosom waxeth warm in her defense.

(EVE — With another group, meeting the courtiers, laughingly taps the second courtier on the shoulder with her fan.)

Sir Knight, thou art a wag. Do cease thy jesting ;
I'll laugh myself to death at thy droll speech.
See of those two, th' exceeding serious air.
Then has th' accursed spirit of reform
Descended o'er you, too? Out of my sight!
For I cannot endure the sight of men
Who so begrudge us this bright, peaceful world,
And must create a new one of their own.

THIRD COURTIER.
Sweet dame, this change cannot apply to us:
Who'd wish for change in such society?

FIRST COURTIER.
If I do not mistake, there is a man.
Upon whose face is stamped this sign of gloom.

EVE.
My husband, he, poor man? Oh, gentlemen,
For God's sake, in my presence, let him be,
From all suspicion free, for I to him
Am pledged, by the most holy tie. He's ill, —
'Tis certain, very ill.

SECOND COURTIER.
'Tis not surprising;
He fell a victim to thy lustrous eyes.

THIRD COURTIER.
Indeed! That which none other dares, does he —
Too jealously suspect his wife? I swear
I'd happy be, if I could, as thy knight,
The gauntlet throwing, challenge him to combat.

(By this time they reach Adam.)
Ah! Master, 'tis good fortune that we meet.
I wish to journey to my country seat,
And fain would have the weather prophecies.

FIRST COURTIER.
And for my son, I'd have thee read the stars;
Last night, past midnight, to the world he came.
ADAM.
To-morrow morn, Sirs, both will be prepared.

FOURTH COURTIER.
The company depart; let us go, too.

THIRD COURTIER.
Here is the stairway, I bid thee good-night.
(Whispering.) An hour from now.

EVE (Whispering.)
The bower at the right.

(Aloud)

Good-night to all of you. Come, my dear John.

(All go; Adam and Eve on the podium; Adam throws himself into a large armchair; Eve stands before him. It grows darker and darker.)

EVE.
I need some money, John.

ADAM.
Hast thou not drawn
Already, all I had?

EVE.
Must I then e'er,
From poverty, be made a sufferer?
The ladies of the court resplendent are,
As peacocks gay, while I must feel ashamed,
Before them to appear; and when sometimes
A courtier, before me, bowing low,
Doth smiling call me queen among the fair,
I must feel shame for him who thus to court
Doth send his queen.

ADAM.
Do I not day and night,
My learning market, but for thee? foretell
The weather's course, and e'en besmirch myself
By reading horoscopes, the truth deny,
Proclaiming that which well I know is false?
And I must blush, for worse have I become,
Thau were the sybils, who at least believed
Their prophecies, while I do not believe.
And yet, I do this for thy sake alone;
To please but thee, do I receive the wage
Of sin. Naught do I want, beneath the sky,
Except the mystic music of the spheres;
The rest is thine. The emperor is poor,
But when I importune him, he will pay,
And that which on the morrow I receive
Is thine. But, wife, I notice with regret,
That thou ungrateful art.

EVE (Weeping.)
Dost thou forget,

While boasting of thy sacrifice, that I
Have sacrificed for thee, a great deal more?
Thy rank was doubtful, but my own was high;
But e'en this difference, I did o'erlook,
And married thee, enabling thee thereby,
To rise. Deny, then, ingrate, if thou can'st,
All this.

ADAM.
Is knowledge then of doubtful rank?
Doubtful, the ray which from high heaven descends
Upon my brow? Is aught more noble then,
Than this? That which ye designate as noble,
A dying idol is, which soon will fall ;
But my nobility will live for aye,
The heir of strength and of eternal youth.
Ah! woman, if thou could'st but understand;
A kindred soul had'st thou, as pure and grand
As I believed, when I the first kiss gave
To thee, ah! then, thou would'st be proud of me,
And would'st not seek, thy happiness to find,
Elsewhere than in my heart, where thou'rt enshrined ;
Thou would'st not give thy sweetness to the world,
And to thy hearthstone all the bitterness.
Oh ! woman ! boundless was my love for thee ;
I love thee even now, though to despair
I'm driven by the bitter in the sweet
Of this love's honeycomb. It pains my heart,
To know how noble could thy soul have been,
Most womanly of women, a true queen, —
Did fate not ruthless intervene. 'Tis true;
Now, woman is a toy divinity,
Where knighthood her, as a fair goddess knew ;
But then) — 'twas a great age — the knights believed
In womanhood. To-day — a pigmy race —
No one believes ; and this idolatry
Is but a cloak for foul iniquities.
I'd grant thee a divorce, tear out my heart,
Ah! though it would pain — I'd bravely do my part;
I would submit, if thou but happy wert ;
But there's the well-established rule and law,
The church, which holds us in her iron grasp,
And we till death, each other must endure.
(Rests his head in his hands. Eve gently pats his head.)

EVE.
No, my dear John! Subdue, I pray, thy grief.
If now and then I say some things that hurt,
I do not give thee sorrow, wittingly ;
You see, peculiar are they at the court;
The dames so proud and scornful, mock and jeer,f
And shall I set myself against them all?
There is no anger, now between us, is there?
Good-night! The money don't forget, at morn.

(Goes down the stairs into the garden.)

ADAM.
What strange commingling of evil and of good,
Of honey and of venom woman is ;
Most wonderful! and why does she attract?
Because the good in her, is of herself.
The evil of the age that gave her birth.
Hey, famulus!

(Lucifer enters, with a lamp, which he places on the table.)

LUCIFER.
Dost thou command, my master?

ADAM.
The weather prophecies, and horoscope
Of birth, I need. Prepare them speedily.

LUCIFER.
Of course, one must be fair, the other bright ;
For who wants for his money, homely birth?
ADAM.
But still, not to improbability.

LUCIFER.
Such things, as would a parent scandalize,
I never could invent. A new Messiah
Is not each newborn child? a shining star
On the horizon of the family rising,
But later, to a scamp developing? (Writes.)

(Eve has come to the bower. The third courtier meets her.)

THIRD COURTIER.
'Tis cruel, thus to let me languish here.

EVE.
Perhaps too great, the sacrifice may be,
T' endure the chill nightwind, while I deceive
A noble spouse, and to the curse of Heaven,
And censure of the world, expose myself.

COURTIER.
Ah! Heaven's curse, the censure of the world,
Rule not, within this dark and hidden bower.

ADAM (musing.)
I sought an age, wherein there was no strife ;
Wherein the beaten path of social order,
And sacred judgment were by none disturbed
That I might find repose, with guileless joy
And healing, for the wounds of warfare long.
'Tis here; but what avails it, if the soul
Still live, this holy immortality
Of pain, which, foolish man, as heritage
From Heaven hath received; which longs for action,
Giving no repose, but rising e'er
To combat slothful lust. Hey ! bring me wine
My famulus! for 'tis a frosty earth,
And I must warm it. In this puny age,
In this wise, must we call forth inspiration,
That from corrupted clay we may escape.
(Lucifer brings wine. Adam drinks until the close of)
the scene.)

Unfold ! unfold ! O boundless Heaven on high,
The leaves of thy mysterious book, that I
Of thy laws, here and there, may find a trace,
While I forget all things of time and space.
Thou art eternal ; transitory they ;
Thou raisest, while they drag the earthward way.
COURTIER.

Oh, Barbara! if thou could'st be my own!
If God would call thy spouse unto himself,
Into that Heaven, which he doth know so well,
And which to know, his whole life he has toiled.

EVE.
Be silent, knight! So great my sorrow were,
That for my tears, I could not even kiss thee.
COURTIER.
Thou'rt jesting.

EVE.
I am speaking but the truth.

COURTIER.
Who comprehends this enigmatic mood?
Oh! Barbara! certain 'tis, thou lov'st me not;
Or say, if exile were to be my lot,
If poor, what would'st thou do, to prove thy faith?

EVE.
Most certainly, I cannot tell that now.

ADAM.
Oh! will there come a time, which shall dissolve
This cold indifference, therefrom evolve
New energies, look boldly in the face
Of all this antiquated rubbish base,
To judge and to reward, to onward press,
Nor fearing dreadful means, dare to express
The hidden thought, which will its course pursue
Like some great avalanche, the prophet too
To crush, who first did utter it! I hear,

(The strains of the Marseillaise are heard.)
I hear the song of future days, so clear,
That powerful talisman, that will efface
The earth's decrepitude, renew the race.