2
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: How beautiful is the Princess Salomé
tonight!
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: You are always looking at her. You look
at her too much. It is dangerous to look at people in such fashion.
Something terrible may happen.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: She is very beautiful tonight.
FIRST SOLDIER: The Tetrarch has a sombre look.
SECOND SOLDIER: Yes, he has a sombre look.
FIRST SOLDIER: He is looking at something.
SECOND SOLDIER: He is looking at some one.
FIRST SOLDIER: At whom is he looking?
SECOND SOLDIER: I cannot tell.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: How pale the Princess is! Never have I seen
her so pale. She is like the shadow of a white rose in a mirror
of silver.
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: You must not look at her. You look too
much at her.
FIRST SOLDIER: Herodias has filled the cup of the Tetrarch.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: Is that the Queen Herodias, she who wears
a black mitre sewn with pearls, and whose hair is powdered with
blue dust?
FIRST SOLDIER: Yes, that is Herodias, the Tetrarch's wife.
SECOND SOLDIER: The Tetrarch is very fond of wine. He has
wine of three sorts. One which is brought from the Island of
Samothrace, and is purple like the cloak of Cæsar.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I have never seen Cæsar.
SECOND SOLDIER: Another that comes from a town called Cyprus,
and is yellow like gold.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I love gold.
SECOND SOLDIER: And the third is a wine of Sicily. That wine
is red like blood.
THE NUBIAN: The gods of my country are very fond of blood.
Twice in the year, we sacrifice to them young men and maidens;
fifty young men and a hundred maidens. But it seems we never
give them quite enough, for they are very harsh to us.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: In my country there are no gods left. The
Romans have driven them out. There are some who say that they
have hidden themselves in the mountains, but I do not believe
it. Three nights I have been in the mountains seeking them everywhere.
I did not find them. And at last I called them by their names,
and they did not come. I think they are dead.
FIRST SOLDIER: The Jews worship a God that you cannot see.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I cannot understand that.
FIRST SOLDIER: In fact, they only believe in things that you
cannot see.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: That seems to me altogether ridiculous.
THE VOICE OF JOKANAAN: After me shall come another mightier
than I. I am not worthy so much as to unloose the latchet of
his shoes. When he cometh, the solitary places shall be glad.
They shall blossom like the lily. The eyes of the blind shall
see the day, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened. The new-born
child shall put his hand upon the dragon's lair, he shall lead
the lions by their manes.
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