A Tragedy in one Act.

Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas

 

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

 

HEROD ANTIPAS, Tetrarch of Judæa  |  SECOND SOLDIER

JOKANAAN, The Prophet  |  THE PAGE OF HERODIAS

THE YOUNG SYRIAN  |  JEWS, NAZARENES, ETC…

TIGELLINUS, A Young Roman  |  A SLAVE

A CAPPADOCIAN  |  NAAMAN, The Executioner

A NUBIAN  |  HERODIAS, Wife of the Tetrarch

FIRST SOLDIER  |  SALOMÉ, Daughter of Herodias

THE SLAVES OF SALOMÉ

SCENE: A great terrace in the Palace of HEROD, set above the banqueting-hall. Some soldiers are leaning over the balcony. To the right there is a gigantic staircase, to the left, at the back, an old cistern surrounded by a wall of green bronze. Moonlight.

THE YOUNG SYRIAN: How beautiful is the Princess Salomé tonight!

THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: Look at the moon! How strange the moon seems! She is like a woman rising from a tomb. She is like a dead woman. You would fancy she was looking for dead things.

THE YOUNG SYRIAN: She has a strange look. She is like a little princess who wears a yellow veil, and whose feet are of silver. She is like a princess who has little white doves for feet. You would fancy she was dancing.

THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: She is like a woman who is dead. She moves very slowly.

Noise in the banqueting-hall.

FIRST SOLDIER: What an uproar! Who are those wild beasts howling!

SECOND SOLDIER: The Jews. They are always like that. They are disputing about their religion.

FIRST SOLDIER: Why do they dispute about their religion?

SECOND SOLDIER: I cannot tell. They are always doing. The Pharisees, for instance, say that there are angels, and the Sadducees declare that angels do not exist.

FIRST SOLDIER: I think it is ridiculous to dispute about such things.

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