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THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY
HEROD ANTIPAS, TETRARCH OF JUDAEA
IOKANAAN, THE PROPHET
THE YOUNG SYRIAN, CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
TIGELLINUS, A YOUNG ROMAN
A CAPPADOCIAN
A NUBIAN
FIRST SOLDIER
SECOND SOLDIER
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS
JEWS, NAZARENES, ETC.
A SLAVE
NAAMAN, THE EXECUTIONER
HERODIAS, WIFE OF THE TETRARCH
SALOME, DAUGHTER OF HERODIAS
THE SLAVES OF SALOME
SCENE A great terrace in the Palace of Herod,
set above the banquetinghall. 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. The moon is shining very brightly.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: How
beautiful is the Princess Salome 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. One might
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. One might
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 it. 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.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: How beautiful
is the Princess Salome 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 aspect.
SECOND SOLDIER: Yes; he has a
sombre aspect.
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 sewed 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 Caesar.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I have never
seen Caesar.
SECOND SOLDIER: Another that
comes from a town called Cyprus, and is as yellow as
gold.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I love gold.
SECOND SOLDIER: And the third is
a wine of Sicily. That wine is red as 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 I am afraid that 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 on 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 one cannot see.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I cannot
understand that.
FIRST SOLDIER: In fact, they
only believe in things that one cannot see.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: That seems to me altogether
ridiculous.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: 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 rose. The eyes of the blind shall see
the day, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened. The
sucking child shall put his hand upon the dragon's lair,
he shall lead the lions by their manes.
SECOND SOLDIER: Make him be
silent. He is always saying ridiculous things.
FIRST SOLDIER: No, no. He is a
holy man. He is very gentle, too. Every day when I give
him to eat he thanks me.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: Who is he?
FIRST SOLDIER: A prophet.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: What is his
name?
FIRST SOLDIER: Iokanaan.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: Whence comes
he?
FIRST SOLDIER: From the desert,
where he fed on locusts and wild honey. He was clothed in
camel's hair, and round his loins he had a leathern belt.
He was very terrible to look upon. A great multitude used
to follow him. He even had disciples.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: What is he
talking of?
FIRST SOLDIER: We can never
tell. Sometimes he says things that affright one, but it
is impossible to understand what he says.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: May one see
him?
FIRST SOLDIER: No. The Tetrarch
has forbidden it.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: The Princess
has hidden her face behind her fan! Her little white
hands are fluttering like doves that fly to their
dovecots. They are like white butterflies. They are
just like white butterflies.
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS:
What is that to you? Why do you look at her? You must not
look at her... Something terrible may happen.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: [Pointing to
the cistern] What a strange prison!
SECOND SOLDIER: It is an old
cistem.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: An old cistern!
That must be a poisonous place in which to dwell!
SECOND SOLDIER: Oh no! For
instance, the Tetrarch's brother, his elder brother, the
first husband of Herodias the Queen, was imprisoned there
for twelve years. It did not kill him. At the end of
twelve years he had to be strangled.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: Strangled? Who
dared to do that?
SECOND SOLDIER: [Pointing to
the Executioner, a huge negro] That man yonder,
Naaman.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: He was not
afraid?
SECOND SOLDIER: Oh no! The
Tetrarch sent him the ring.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: What ring?
SECOND SOLDIER: The death ring.
So he was not afraid.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: Yet it is a
terrible thing to strangle a king.
FIRST SOLDIER: Why? Kings have
but one neck, like other men.
THE CAPPADOCIAN: I think it is
terrible.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: The Princess
is getting up! She is leaving the table! She looks very
troubled. Ah, she is coming this way. Yes, she is coming
towards us. How pale she is! Never have I seen her so
pale.
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: Do
not look at her. I pray you not to look at her.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: She is like a
dove that has strayed... She is like a narcissus
trembling in the wind... She is like a silver flower. [Enter
Salome]
SALOME: I will not stay. I
cannot stay. Why does the Tetrarch look at me all the
while with his mole's eyes under his shaking eyelids? It
is strange that the husband of my mother looks at me like
that. I know not what it means. Of a truth I know it too
well.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: You have left
the feast, Princess?
SALOME: How sweet is the air
here! I can breathe here! Within there are Jews from
Jerusalem who are tearing each other in pieces over their
foolish ceremonies, and barbarians who drink and drink
and spill their wine on the pavement, and Greeks from
Smyrna with painted eyes and painted cheeks, and frizzed
hair curled in columns, and Egyptians silent and subtle,
with long nails of jade and russet cloaks, and Romans
brutal and coarse, with their uncouth jargon. Ah! How I
hate the Romans! They are rough and common, and they give
themselves the airs of noble lords.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Will you be
seated, Princess?
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: Why
do you speak to her? Oh! Something terrible will happen.
Why do you look at her?
SALOME: How good to see the
moon! She is like a little piece of money, a little
silver flower. She is cold and chaste. I am sure she is a
virgin. She has the beauty of a virgin. Yes, she is a
virgin. She has never defiled herself. She has never
abandoned herself to men, like the other goddesses.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Behold!
The Lord hath come. The Son of Man is at hand. The
centaurs have hidden themselves in the rivers, and the
nymphs have left the rivers, and are lying beneath the
leaves in the forests.
SALOME: Who was that who cried
out?
SECOND SOLDIER: The prophet,
Princess.
SALOME: Ah, the prophet! He of
whom the Tetrarch is afraid?
SECOND SOLDIER: We know nothing
of that, Princess. It was the prophet Iokanaan who cried
out.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Is it your
pleasure that I bid them bring your litter, Princess? The
night is fair in the garden.
SALOME: He says terrible things
about my mother, does he not?
SECOND SOLDIER: We never
understand what he says, Princess.
SALOME: Yes; he says terrible
things about her. [Enter a slave]
THE SLAVE: Princess, the
Tetrarch prays you to return to the feast.
SALOME: I will not return.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Pardon me,
Princess, but if you return not some misfortune may
happen.
SALOME: Is he an old man, this
prophet?
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Princess, it
were better to return. Suffer me to lead you in.
SALOME: This prophet... is he an
old man?
FIRST SOLDIER: No, he is quite
young.
SECOND SOLDIER: One cannot be
sure. There are those who say he is Elias.
SALOME: Who is Elias?
SECOND SOLDIER: A prophet of
this country in bygone days, Princess.
THE SLAVE: What answer may I
give the Tetrarch from the Princess?
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Rejoice
not, O land of Palestine, because the rod of him who
smote thee is broken. For from the seed of the serpent
shall come a basilisk, and that which is born of it shall
devour the birds.
SALOME: What a strange voice! I
would speak with him.
FIRST SOLDIER: I fear it may not
be, Princess. The Tetrarch does not suffer any one to
speak with him. He has even forbidden the high priest to
speak with him.
SALOME: I desire to speak with
him.
FIRST SOLDIER: It is impossible,
Princess.
SALOME: I will speak with him.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Would it not
be better to return to the banquet?
SALOME: Bring forth this
prophet. [Exit the Slave]
FIRST SOLDIER: We dare not,
Princess.
SALOME: [Approaching the
cistern and looking down into it] How black it is,
down there! It must be terrible to be in so black a hole!
It is like a tomb... [To the soldiers] Did
you not hear me? Bring out the prophet. I would look on him.
SECOND SOLDIER: Princess, I beg
you, do not require this of us.
SALOME: You are making me wait
upon your pleasure.
FIRST SOLDIER: Princess, our
lives belong to you, but we cannot do what you have asked
of us. And indeed, it is not of us that you should ask
this thing.
SALOME: [Looking at the young
Syrian] Ah!
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: Oh!
what is going to happen? I am sure that something
terrible will happen.
SALOME: [Going up to
the young Syrian] Thou wilt do this thing for me,
wilt thou not, Narraboth? Thou wilt do this thing for me.
I have ever been kind towards thee. Thou wilt do it for
me. I would but look at him, this strange prophet. Men
have talked so much of him. Often I have heard the
Tetrarch talk of him. I think he is afraid of him, the Tetrarch.
Art thou, even thou, also afraid of him, Narraboth?
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: I fear him
not, princess; there is no man I fear. But the Tetrarch
has formally forbidden that any man should raise the
cover of this well.
SALOME: Thou wilt do this thing
for me, Narraboth, and tomorrow when I pass in my litter
beneath the gateway of the idolsellers I will let fall
for thee a little flower, a little green flower.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Princess, I
cannot, I cannot.
SALOME: [Smiling] Thou
wilt do this thing for me, Narraboth. Thou knowest that
thou wilt do this thing for me. And on the morrow when I
shall pass in my litter by the bridge of the
idolbuyers, I will look at thee through the muslin
veils, I will look at thee, Narraboth, it may be I will smile
at thee. Look at me, Narraboth, look at me. Ah! thou knowest
that thou wilt do what I ask of thee. Thou knowest it...
I know that thou wilt do this thing.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: [Signing to
the third Soldier] Let the prophet come forth... The
Princess Salome desires to see him.
SALOME: Ah!
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: Oh!
How strange the moon looks! Like the hand of a dead woman
who is seeking to cover herself with a shroud.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: She has a
strange aspect! She is like a little princess, whose eyes
are eyes of amber. Through the clouds of muslin she is
smiling like a little princess [The prophet comes out
of the cistern. Salome looks at him and steps slowly
back]
IOKANAAN: Where is he whose cup
of abominations is now full? Where is he, who in a robe
of silver shall one day die in the face of all the
people? Bid him come forth, that he may hear the voice of
him who hath cried in the waste places and in the houses
of kings.
SALOME: Of whom is he speaking?
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: No one can
tell, Princess.
IOKANAAN: Where is she who saw
the images of men painted on the walls, even the images
of the Chaldaeans painted with colours, and gave herself
up unto the lust of her eyes, and sent ambassadors into
the land of Chaldaea?
SALOME: It is of my mother that
he is speaking.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Oh no,
Princess?
SALOME: Yes: it is of my mother
that he is speaking.
IOKANAAN: Where is she who gave
herself unto the Captains of Assyria, who have many
baldricks on their loins, and crowns of many colours on
their heads? Where is she who bath given herself to the
young men of the Egyptians, who are clothed in fine linen
and hyacinth, whose shields are of gold, whose helmets
are of silver, whose bodies are mighty? Go, bid her rise
up from the bed of her abominations, from the bed of her
incestuousness, that she may hear the words of him who
prepareth the way of the Lord, that she may repent of her
iniquities. Though she will not repent, but will stick
fast in her abominations, go bid her come, for the fan of
the Lord is in His hand.
SALOME: Ah, but he is terrible,
he is terrible!
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Do not stay
here, Princess, I beseech you.
SALOME: It is his eyes above all
that are terrible. They are like black holes burnt by
torches in a tapestry of Tyre. They are like the black
caverns where the dragons live, the black caverns of
Egypt in which the dragons make their lairs. They are
like black lakes troubled by fantastic moons... Do you
think he will speak again?
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Do not stay
here, Princess. I pray you do not stay here.
SALOME: How wasted he is! He is
like a thin ivory statue. He is like an image of silver.
I am sure he is chaste, as the moon is. He is like a
moonbeam, like a shaft of silver. His flesh must be very
cold, cold as ivory... I would look closer at him.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: No, no,
Princess!
SALOME: I must look at him
closer.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Princess!
Princess!
IOKANAAN: Who is this woman who
is looking at me? I will not have her look at me.
Wherefore cloth she look at me, with her golden eyes,
under her gilded eyelids? I know not who she is. I do not
desire to know who she is. Bid her begone. It is not to
her that I would speak.
SALOME: I am Salome, daughter of
Herodias, Princess of Judaea.
IOKANAAN: Back! daughter of
Babylon! Come not near the chosen of the Lord. Thy mother
hath filled the earth with the wine of her iniquities,
and the cry of her sinning hath come-up even to the ears
of God.
SALOME: Speak again, Iokanaan.
Thy voice is as music to mine ear.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Princess!
Princess! Princess!
SALOME: Speak again! Speak
again, Iokanaan, and tell me what I must do.
IOKANAAN: Daughter of Sodom,
come not near me! But cover thy head with a veil, and
scatter ashes upon shine head, and get thee to the
desert, and seek out the Son of Man.
SALOME: Who is he, the Son of
Man? Is he as beautiful as thou art, Iokanaan?
IOKANAAN: Get thee behind me! I
hear in the palace the beating of the wings of the angel
of death.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Princess, I
beseech thee to go within.
IOKANAAN: Angel of the Lord God,
what cost thou here with thy sword? Whom seekest thou in
this palace? The day of him who shall die in a robe of
silver has not yet come.
SALOME: Iokanaan!
IOKANAAN: Who speaketh?
SALOME: I am amorous of thy
body, Iokanaan! Thy body is white, like the lilies of the
field that the mower hath never mowed. Thy body is white
like the snows that lie on the mountains of Judaea, and
come down into the valleys. The roses in the garden of
the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body. Neither
the roses of the garden of the Queen of Arabia, the
garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia, nor the feet of
the dawn when they light on the leaves, nor the breast of
the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea... There
is nothing in the world so white as thy body. Suffer me
to touch thy body.
IOKANAAN: Back! daughter of
Babylon! By woman came evil into the world. Speak not to
me. I will not listen to thee. I listen but to the voice
of the Lord God.
SALOME: Thy body is hideous. It
is like the body of a leper. It is like a plastered wall,
where vipers have crawled; like a plastered wall where
the scorpions have made their nest. It is like a whited
sepulchre, full of loathsome things. It is horrible, thy
body is horrible. It is of thy hair that I am enamoured,
Iokanaan. Thy hair is like clusters of grapes, like the
clusters of black grapes that hang from the vinetrees
of Edom in the land of the Edomites. Thy hair is like the
cedars of Lebanon, like the great cedars of Lebanon that
give their shade to the lions and to the robbers who
would hide in them by day. The long black nights, when
the moon hides her face, when the stars are afraid, are
not so black as thy hair. The silence that dwells in the
forest is not so black. There is nothing in the world that
is so black as thy hair... Suffer me to touch thy hair.
IOKANAAN: Back, daughter of
Sodom! Touch me not. Profane not the temple of the Lord
God.
SALOME: Thy hair is horrible. It
is covered with mire and dust. It is like a crown of
thorns placed on thy head. It is like a knot of serpents
coiled round thy neck. I love not thy hair... It is thy
mouth that I desire, Iokanaan. Thy mouth is like a band
of scarlet on a tower of ivory. It is like a pomegranate
cut in twain with a knife of ivory. The pomegranate
flowers that blossom in the gardens of Tyre, and are
redder than roses, are not so red. The red blasts of trumpets
that herald the approach of kings, and make afraid the
enemy, are not so red. Thy mouth is redder than the feet of
those who tread the wine in the winepress. It is redder than
the feet of the doves who inhabit the temples and are fed
by the priests. It is redder than the feet of him who cometh
from a forest where he bath slain a lion, and seen gilded
tigers. Thy mouth is like a branch of coral that fishers
have found in the twilight of the sea, the coral that they
keep for the kings!... It is like the vermilion that the Moabites
find in the mines of Moab, the vermilion that the kings
take from them. It is like the bow of the King of the Persians,
that is painted with vermilion, and is tipped with coral.
There is nothing in the world so red as thy mouth... Suffer
me to kiss thy mouth.
IOKANAAN: Never! daughter of
Babylon! daughter of Sodom! Never!
SALOME: I will kiss thy mouth,
Iokanaan. I will kiss thy mouth.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Princess,
Princess, thou who art like a garden of myrrh, thou who
art the dove of all doves, look not at this man, look not
at him! Do not speak such words to him. I cannot endure
it... Princess, do not speak these things.
SALOME: I will kiss thy mouth,
Iokanaan.
THE YOUNG SYRIAN: Ah! [He
kills himself, and falls between Salome and Iokanaan]
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: The
young Syrian has slain himself The young captain has
slain himself. He has slain himself who was my friend! I
gave him a little box of perfumes and earrings wrought
in silver, and now he has killed himself Ah, did he not
say that some misfortune would happen? I, too, said it,
and it has come to pass. Well I knew that the moon was
seeking a dead thing, but I knew not that it was he whom
she sought. Ah! why did I not hide him from the moon? If
I had hidden him in a cavern she would not have seen him.
FIRST SOLDIER: Princess, the
young captain has just slain himself.
SALOME: Suffer me to kiss thy
mouth, Iokanaan.
IOKANAAN: Art thou not afraid,
daughter of Herodias? Did I not tell thee that I heard in
the palace the beating of the wings of the angel of
death, and hath he not come, the angel of death?
SALOME: Suffer me to kiss thy
mouth.
IOKANAAN: Daughter of adultery,
there is but one who can save thee. It is He of whom I
spake. Go seek Him. He is in a boat on the sea of
Galilee, and He talketh with His disciples. Kneel down on
the shore of the sea, and call unto Him by His name. When
He cometh to thee, and to all who call on Him He cometh,
bow thyself at His feet and ask of Him the remission of
thy sins.
SALOME: Suffer me to kiss thy
mouth.
IOKANAAN: Cursed be thou!
daughter of an incestuous mother, be thou accursed!
SALOME: I will kiss thy mouth,
Iokanaan.
IOKANAAN: I will not look at
thee. Thou art accursed, Salome, thou art accursed. [He
goes down into the cistern]
SALOME: I will kiss thy mouth,
Iokanaan; I will kiss thy mouth.
FIRST SOLDIER: We must bear away
the body to another place. The Tetrarch does not care to
see dead bodies, save the bodies of those who he himself
has slain.
THE PAGE OF HERODIAS: He
was my brother, and nearer to me than a brother. I gave
him a little box full of perfumes, and a ring of agate
that he wore always on his hand. In the evening we were
wont to walk by the river, and among the almondtrees,
and he used to tell me of the things of his country. He
spake ever very low. The sound of his voice was like the
sound of a flute, of one who playeth upon the flute. Also
he had much joy to gaze at himself in the river. I used
to reproach him for that.
SECOND SOLDIER: You are right;
we must hide the body. The Tetrarch must not see it.
FIRST SOLDIER: The Tetrarch will
not come to this place. He never comes on the terrace. He
is too much afraid of the prophet. [Enter Herod,
Herodias, and all the court]
HEROD: Where is Salome? Where is
the Princess? Why did she not return to the banquet as I
commanded her? Ah! there she is!
HERODIAS: You must not look at
her! You are always looking at her!
HEROD: The moon has a strange
look tonight. Has she not a strange look? She is like a
mad woman, a mad woman who is seeking everywhere for
lovers. She is naked too. She is quite naked. The clouds
are seeking to clothe her nakedness, but she will not let
them. She shows herself naked in the sky. She reels
through the clouds like a drunken woman... I am sure she
is looking for lovers. Does she not reel like a drunken
woman? She is a mad woman, is she not?
HERODIAS: No; the moon is like
the moon, that is all. Let us go within... We have
nothing to do here.
HEROD: I will stay here!
Manasseh, lay carpets there. Light torches. Bring forth
the ivory tables, and the tables of jasper. The air here
is sweet. I will drink more wine with my guests. We must
show all honours to the ambassadors of Caesar.
HERODIAS: It is not because of
them that you remain.
HEROD: Yes; the air is very
sweet. Come, Herodias, our guests await us. Ah! I have
slipped! I have slipped in blood! It is an ill omen. It
is a very ill omen. Wherefore is there blood here?... and
this body, what does this body here? Think you I am like
the King of Egypt, who gives no feast to his guests but
that he shows them a corpse? Whose is it? I will not look
on it.
FIRST SOLDIER: It is our
captain, sire. It is the young Syrian whom you made
captain of the guard but three days gone.
HEROD: I issued no order that he
should be slain.
SECOND SOLDIER: He slew himself,
sire.
HEROD: For what reason? I had
made him captain of my guard!
SECOND SOLDIER: We do not know,
sire. But with his own hand he slew himself.
HEROD: That seems strange to me.
I had thought it was but the Roman philosophers who slew
themselves. Is it not true, Tigellinus, that the
philosophers at Rome slay themselves?
TIGELLINUS: There be some who
slay themselves, sire. They are the Stoics. The Stoics
are people of no cultivation. They are ridiculous people.
I myself regard them as being perfectly ridiculous.
HEROD: I also. It is ridiculous
to kill one's self.
TIGELLINUS: Everybody at Rome
laughs at them. The Emperor has written a satire against
them. It is recited everywhere.
HEROD: Ah! he has written a
satire against them? Caesar is wonderful. He can do
everything... It is strange that the young Syrian has
slain himself. I am sorry he has slain himself. I am very
sorry. For he was fair to look upon. He was even very
fair. He had languorous eyes. I remember that I saw that
he looked languorously at Salome. Truly, I thought he
looked too much at her.
HERODIAS: There are others who
look too much at her.
HEROD: His father was a king. I
drove him from his kingdom. And of his mother, who was a
queen, you made a slave, Herodias. So he was here as my
guest, as it were, and for that reason I made him my
captain. I am sorry he is dead. Ho! why have you left the
body here? It must be taken to some other place. I will
not look at it-away with it! [they take away the body] It
is cold here. There is a wind blowing. Is there not a
wind blowing?
HERODIAS: No; there is no wind.
HEROD: I tell you there is a
wind that blows... And I hear in the air something that
is like the beating of wings, like the beating of vast
wings. Do you not hear it?
HERODIAS: I hear nothing.
HEROD: I hear it no longer. But
I heard it. It was the blowing of the wind. It has passed
away. But no, I hear it again. Do you not hear it.? It is
just like a beating of wings.
HERODIAS:I tell you there is
nothing. You are ill. Let us go within.
HEROD:I am not ill. It is your
daughter who is sick to death. Never have I seen her so
pale.
HERODIAS: I told you not to look
at her.
HEROD: Pour me forth wine. [wine
is brought] Salome, come drink a little wine with me.
I have here a wine that is exquisite. Caesar himself sent
it me. Dip into it thy little red lips, that I may drain
the cup.
SALOME: I am not thirsty,
Tetrarch.
HEROD: You hear how she answers
me, this daughter of yours?
HERODIAS: She does right. Why
are you always gazing at her?
HEROD: Bring me ripe fruits. [Fruits
are brought] Salome, come and eat fruits with me. I
love to see in a fruit the mark of thy little teeth. Bite
but a little of this fruit, that I may eat what is left.
SALOME: I am not hungry,
Tetrarch.
HEROD: [To Herodias] You
see how you have brought up this daughter of yours.
HERODIAS: My daughter and I come
of a royal race. As for thee, thy father was a camel
driver! He was a thief and a robber to boot!
HEROD: Thou liest!
HERODIAS: Thou knowest well that
it is true.
HEROD: Salome, come and sit next
to me. I will give thee the throne of thy mother.
SALOME: I am not tired.
Tetrarch.
HERODIAS: You see in what regard
she holds you.
HEROD: Bring me -What is it that
I desire? I forgot. Ah! ah! I remember.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Behold
the time is come! That which I foretold has come to pass.
The day I spake of is at hand.
HERODIAS: Bid him be silent. I
will not listen to his voice. This man is for ever
hurling insults against me.
HEROD: He has said nothing
against you. Besides, he is a very great prophet.
HERODIAS: I do not believe in
prophets. Can a man tell what will come to pass? No man
knows it. Also he is forever insulting me. But I think
you are afraid of him... I know well that you are afraid
of him.
HEROD: I am not afraid of him. I
am afraid of no man.
HERODIAS: I tell you you are
afraid of him. If you are not afraid of him why do you
not deliver him to the Jews who for these six months past
have been clamouring for him?
A JEW: Truly, my lord, it were
better to deliver him into our hands.
HEROD: Enough on this subject. I
have already given you my answer. I will not deliver him
into your hands. He is a holy man. He is a man who has
seen God.
A JEW: That cannot be. There is
no man who hath seen God since the prophet Elias. He is
the last man who saw God face to face. In these days God
cloth not show Himself. God hideth Himself. Therefore
great evils have come upon the land.
ANOTHER JEW: Verily, no man
knoweth if Elias the prophet did indeed see God.
Peradventure it was but the shadow of God that he saw.
A THIRD JEW: God is at no times
hidden. He showeth Himself at all times and in all
places. God is in what is evil even as He is in what is
good.
A FOURTH JEW: Thou shouldst not
say that. It is a very dangerous doctrine. It is a
doctrine that cometh from Alexandria, where men teach the
philosophy of the Greeks. And the Greeks are Gentiles.
They are not even circumcised.
A FIFTH JEW: No man can tell how
God worketh. His ways are very dark. It may be that the
things which we call evil are good, and the things which
we call good are evil. There is no knowledge of anything.
We can but bow our heads to His will, for God is very
strong. He breaketh in pieces the strong together with
the weak, for He regardeth not any man.
FIRST JEW: Thou speakest truly.
Verily, God is terrible. He breaketh in pieces the strong
and the weak as men break corn in a mortar. But as for
this man, he hath never seen God. No man hath seen God
since the prophet Elias.
HERODIAS: Make them be silent.
They weary me.
HEROD: But I have heard it said
that Iokanaan is in very truth your prophet Elias.
THE JEW: That cannot be. It is
more than three hundred years since the days of the
prophet Elias.
HEROD: There be some who say
that man is Elias the prophet.
A NAZARENE: I am sure that he is
Elias the prophet.
THE JEW: Nay, but he is not
Elias the prophet.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Behold
the day is at hand, the day of the Lord, and I hear upon
the mountains the feet of Him who shall be the Saviour of
the world.
HEROD: What does that mean? The
Saviour of the world?
TlGELLINUS: It is a title that
Caesar adopts.
HEROD: But Caesar is not coming
into Judaea. Only yesterday I received letters from Rome.
They contained nothing concerning this matter. And you,
Tigellinus, who were at Rome during the winter, you heard
nothing concerning this matter, did you?
TIGELLINUS: Sire, I heard
nothing concerning the matter. I was but explaining the
title. It is one of Caesar's titles.
HEROD: But Caesar cannot come.
He is too gouty. They say that his feet are like the feet
of an elephant. Also there are reasons of state. He who
leaves Rome loses Rome. He will not come. Howbeit, Caesar
is lord, he will come if such be his pleasure.
Nevertheless, I think he will not come.
FIRST NAZARENE: It was not
concerning Caesar that the prophet spake these words,
sire.
HEROD: How? -it was not
concerning Caesar?
FIRST NAZARENE: No, my lord.
HEROD: Concerning whom then did
he speak?
FIRST NAZARENE: Concerning
Messias, who hath come.
A JEW: Messias hath not come.
FIRST NAZARENE: He hath come,
and everywhere He worketh miracles!
HERODIAS: Ho! ho! miracles! I do
not believe in miracles. I have seen too many. [To the
page] My fan.
FIRST NAZARENE: This Man worketh
true miracles. Thus, at a marriage which took place in a
little town of Galilee, a town of some importance, He
changed water into wine. Certain persons who were present
related it to me. Also He healed two lepers that were
seated before the Gate of Capernaum simply by touching
them.
SECOND NAZARENE: Nay; it was two
blind men that He healed at Capernaum.
FIRST NAZARENE: Nay; they were
lepers. But He hath healed blind people also, and He was
seen on a mountain talking with angels.
A SADDUCEE: Angels do not exist.
A PHARISEE: Angels exist, but I
do not believe that this Man has talked with them.
FIRST NAZARENE: He was seen by a
great multitude of people talking with angels.
HERODIAS: How these men weary
me! They are ridiculous! They are altogether ridiculous! [To
the Page] Well! my fan? [The Page gives her the
fan] You have a dreamer's look. You must not
dream. It is only sick people who dream. [She stakes
the Page with her fan]
SECOND NAZARENE: There is also
the miracle of the daughter of Jairus.
FIRST NAZARENE: Yea, that is
true. No man can gainsay it.
HERODIAS: Those men are mad.
They have looked too long on the moon. Command them to be
silent.
HEROD: What is this miracle of
the daughter of Jairus?
FIRST NAZARENE: The daughter of
Jairus was dead. This Man raised her from the dead.
HEROD: How! He raises people
from the dead?
FIRST NAZARENE: Yea, sire; He
raiseth the dead.
HEROD: I do not wish Him to do
that. I forbid Him to do that. I suffer no man to raise
the dead. This Man must be found and told that I forbid
him to raise the dead. Where is this Man at present?
SECOND NAZARENE: He is in every
place, my lord, but it is hard to find Him.
FIRST NAZARENE: It is said that
He is now in Samaria.
A JEW: It is easy to see that
this is not Messias, if He is in Samaria. It is not to
the Samaritans that Messias shall come. The Samaritans
are accursed. They bring no offerings to the Temple.
SECOND NAZARENE: He left Samaria
a few days since. I think that at the present moment He
is in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem.
FIRST NAZARENE: No; He is not
there. I have just come from Jerusalem. For two months
they have had no tidings of Him.
HEROD: No matter! But let them
find Him, and tell Him, thus saith Herod the King,
"I will not suffer Thee to raise the dead." To
change water into wine, to heal the lepers and the
blind... He may do these things if He will. I say nothing against
these things. In truth I hold it a kindly deed to heal a leper.
But no man shall raise the dead... It would be terrible if
the dead came back.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Ah! the
wanton one! the harlot! ah! the daughter of Babylon with
her golden eyes and her gilded eyelids! Thus saith the
Lord God, Let there come up against her a multitude of
men. Let the people take stones and stone her...
HERODIAS: Command him to be
silent!
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Let the
captains of the hosts pierce her with their swords, let
them crush her beneath their shields.
HERODIAS: Nay, but it is
infamous.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: It is
thus that I will wipe out all the wickedness from the
earth, and that all women shall learn not to imitate her
abominations.
HERODIAS: You hear what he says
against me? You suffer him to revile her who is your
wife!
HEROD: He did not speak your
name.
HERODIAS: What does that matter?
You know well that it is I whom he seeks to revile. And I
am your wife, am I not?
HEROD: Of a truth, dear and
noble Herodias, you are my wife, and before that you were
the wife of my brother.
HERODIAS: It was thou didst
snatch me from his arms.
HEROD: Of a truth I was stronger
than he was... But let us not talk of that matter. I do
not desire to talk of it. It is the cause of the terrible
words the prophet has spoken. Peradventure on account of
it a misfortune will come. Let us not speak of this
matter. Noble Herodias, we are not mindful of our guests.
Fill thou my cup, my wellbeloved. Ho! fill with wine
the great goblets of silver, and the great goblets of
glass. I will drink to Caesar. There are Romans here, we
must drink to Caesar.
ALL: Caesar! Caesar!
HEROD: Do you not see your
daughter, how pale she is?
HERODIAS: What is it to you if
she be pale or not?
HEROD: I have never seen her so
pale.
HERODIAS: You must not look at
her.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: In that
day the sun shall become black like sackcloth of hair,
and the moon shall become like blood, and the stars of
the heaven shall fall upon the earth like unripe figs
that fall from the figtree, and the kings of the earth
shall be afraid.
HERODIAS: Ah! ah! I should like
to see that day of which he speaks, when the moon shall
become like blood, and when the stars shall fall upon the
earth like unripe figs. This prophet talks like a drunken
man... but I cannot suffer the sound of his voice. I hate
his voice. Command him to be silent.
HEROD: I will not. I cannot
understand what it is that he saith, but it may be an
omen.
HERODIAS: I do not believe in
omens. He speaks like a drunken man.
HEROD: It may be he is drunk
with the wine of God.
HERODIAS: What wine is that, the
wine of God? From what vineyards is it gathered? In what
winepress may one find it?
HEROD: [From this point he
looks all the while at Salome] Tigellinus, when you
were at Rome of late, did the Emperor speak with you on
the subject of... ?
TIGELLINUS: On what subject, my
lord?
HEROD: On what subject? Ah! I
asked you a question, did I not.? I have forgotten what I
would have asked you.
HERODIAS: You are looking again
at my daughter. You must not look at her. I have already
said so.
HEROD: You say nothing else.
HERODIAS: I say it again.
HEROD: And that restoration of
the Temple about which they have talked so much, will
anything be done? They say that the veil of the Sanctuary
has disappeared, do they not?
HERODIAS: It was thyself didst
steal it. Thou speakest at random and without wit. I will
not stay here. Let us go within.
HEROD: Dance for me, Salome.
HERODIAS: I will not have her
dance.
SALOME: I have no desire to
dance, Tetrarch.
HEROD: Salome, daughter of
Herodias, dance for me.
HERODIAS: Peace. Let her alone.
HEROD: I command thee to dance,
Salome.
SALOME: I will not dance,
Tetrarch.
HERODIAS: [Laughing] You
see how she obeys you.
HEROD: What is it to me whether
she dances or not? It is nought to me. Tonight I am
happy. I am exceeding happy. Never have I been so happy.
FIRST SOLDIER: The Tetrarch has
a sombre look. Has he not a sombre look?
SECOND SOLDIER: Yes, he has a
sombre look.
HEROD: Wherefore should I not be
happy? Caesar, who is lord of the world, Caesar, who is
lord of all things, loves me well. He has just sent me
most precious gifts. Also he has promised me to summon to
Rome the King of Cappadocia, who is mine enemy. It may be
that at Rome he will crucify him, for he is able to do
all things that he has a mind to do. Verily, Caesar is
lord. Therefore I do well to be happy. I am very happy,
never have I been so happy. There is nothing in the world
that can mar my happiness.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: He shall
be seated on his throne. He shall be clothed in scarlet
and purple. In his hand he shall bear a golden cup full
of his blasphemies. And the angel of the Lord shall smite
him. He shall be eaten of worms.
HERODIAS: You hear what he says
about you. He says you shall be eaten of worms.
HEROD: It is not of me that he
speaks. He speaks never against me. It is of the King of
Cappadocia that he speaks; the King of Cappadocia who is
mine enemy. It is he who shall be eaten of worms. It is
not I. Never has he spoken word against me, this prophet,
save that I sinned in taking to wife the wife of my
brother. It may be he is right. For, of a truth, you are
sterile.
HERODIAS: I am sterile, I? You
say that, you that are ever looking at my daughter, you
that would have her dance for your pleasure? You speak as
a fool. I have borne a child. You have gotten no child,
no, not on one of your slaves. It is you who are sterile,
not I.
HEROD: Peace, woman! I say that
you are sterile. You have borne me no child, and the
prophet says that our marriage is not a true marriage. He
says that it is a marriage of incest, a marriage that
will bring evils... I fear he is right; I am sure that he
is right. But it is not the hour to speak of these
things. I would be happy at this moment. Of a truth, I am
happy. There is nothing I lack.
HERODIAS: I am glad you are of
so fair a humour tonight. It is not your custom. But it
is late. Let us go within. Do not forget that we hunt at
sunrise. All honours must be shown to Caesar's
ambassadors, must they not?
SECOND SOLDIER: The Tetrarch has
a sombre look.
FIRST SOLDIER: Yes, he has a
sombre look.
HEROD: Salome, Salome, dance for
me. I pray thee dance for me. I am sad tonight. Yes, I am
passing sad tonight. When I came hither I slipped in
blood, which is an ill omen; also I heard in the air a
beating of wings, a beating of giant wings. I cannot tell
what that may mean... I am sad tonight. Therefore dance
for me. Dance for me, Salome, I beseech thee. If thou
dancest for me thou mayest ask of me what thou wilt, and
I will give it thee. Yes, dance for me, Salome, and whatsoever
thou shalt ask of me I will give it thee, even unto the
half my kingdom.
SALOME: [Rising] Will you
indeed give me whatsoever I shall ask of you, Tetrarch?
HERODIAS: Do not dance, my
daughter.
HEROD: Whatsoever thou shalt ask
of me, even unto the half of my kingdom.
SALOME: You swear it, Tetrarch?
HEROD: I swear it, Salome.
HERODIAS: Do not dance, my
daughter.
SALOME: By what will you swear
this thing, Tetrarch?
HEROD: By my life, by my crown,
by my gods. Whatsoever thou shalt desire I will give it
thee, even to the half of my kingdom, if thou wilt but
dance for me. O Salome, Salome, dance for me!
SALOME: You have sworn an oath,
Tetrarch.
HEEROD: I have sworn an oath.
HERODIAS: My daughter, do not
dance.
HEROD: Even to the half of my
kingdom. Thou wilt be passing fair as a queen, Salome, if
it please thee to ask for the half of my kingdom. Will
she not be fair as a queen? Ah! it is cold here! There is
an icy wind, and I hear... wherefore do I hear in the air
this beating of wings? Ah! one might fancy a huge, black
bird that hovers over the terrace. Why can I not see it,
this bird? The beat of its wings is terrible. The breath
of the wind of its wings is terrible. It is a chill wind.
Nay, but it is not cold, it is hot. I am choking. Pour water
on my hands. Give me snow to eat. Loosen my mantle.
Quick! quick! loosen my mantle. Nay, but leave it. It is
my garland that hurts me, my garland of roses. The flowers
are like fire. They have burned my forehead. [He tears
the wreath from his head, and throws it on the table] Ah! I
can breathe now. How red those petals are! They are like
stains of blood on the cloth. That does not matter. It is not
wise to find symbols in everything that one sees. It makes
life too full of terrors. It were better to say that
stains of blood are as lovely as rosepetals. It were
better far to say that... But we will not speak of this.
Now I am happy. I am passing happy. Have I not the right
to be happy? Your daughter is going to dance for me. Wilt
thou not dance for me, Salome? Thou hast promised to
dance for me.
HERODIAS: I will not have her
dance.
SALOME: I will dance for you,
Tetrarch.
HEROD: You hear what your
daughter says. She is going to dance for me. Thou doest
well to dance for me, Salome. And when thou hast danced
for me, forget not to ask of me whatsoever thou hast a
mind to ask. Whatsoever thou shalt desire I will give it
thee, even to the half of my kingdom. I have sworn it,
have I not?
SALOME: Thou hast sworn it,
Tetrarch.
HEROD: And I have never failed
of my word. I am not of those who break their oaths. I
know not how to lie. I am the slave of my word, and my
word is the word of a king. The King of Cappadocia ever
had a lying tongue, but he is no true king. He is a
coward. Also he owes me money that he will not repay. He
has even insulted my ambassadors. He has spoken words
that were wounding. But Caesar will crucify him when he
comes to Rome. I know that Caesar will crucify him. And
if he crucify him not, yet will he die, being eaten of
worms. The prophet has prophesied it. Well! Wherefore
cost thou tarry, Salome?
SALOME: I am waiting until my
slaves bring perfumes to me and the seven veils, and take
from off my feet my sandals. [Slaves bring perfumes
and the seven veils, and take the sandals of Salome]
HEROD: Ah, thou art to dance
with naked feet! 'Tis well! 'tis well! Thy little feet
will be like white doves. They will be like little white
flowers that dance upon the trees... No, no, she is going
to dance on blood! There is blood spilt on the ground.
She must not dance on blood. It were an evil omen.
HERODIAS: What is it to thee if
she dance on blood? Thou hast waded deep enough in it...
HEROD: What is it to me? Ah!
look at the moon! She has become red. She has become red
as blood. Ah! the prophet prophesied truly. He prophesied
that the moon would become as blood. Did he not prophesy
it? All of ye heard him prophesying it. And now the moon
has become as blood. Do ye not see it?
HERODIAS: Oh yes, I see it well,
and the stars are falling like unripe figs, are they not?
And the sun is becoming black like sackcloth of hair, and
the kings of the earth are afraid. That at least one can
see. The prophet is justified of his words in that at
least, for truly the kings of the earth are afraid... Let
us go within. You are sick. They will say at Rome that
you are mad. Let us go within, I tell you.
THE VOICE OF IOKANAAN: Who is
this who cometh from Edom, who is this who cometh from
Bozra, whose raiment is dyed with purple, who shineth in
the beauty of his garments, who walketh mighty in his
greatness? Wherefore is thy raiment stained with scarlet?
HERODIAS: Let us go within. The
voice of that man maddens me. I will not have my daughter
dance while he is continually crying out. I will not have
her dance while you look at her in this fashion. In a
word, I will not have her dance.
HEROD: Do not rise, my wife, my
queen, it will avail thee nothing. I will not go within
until she hath danced. Dance, Salome, dance for me.
HERODIAS: Do not dance, my
daughter.
SALOME: I am ready, Tetrarch. [Salome
dances the dance of the seven veils]
HEROD: Ah! wonderful! wonderful!
You see that she has danced for me, your daughter. Come
near, Salome, come near, that I may give thee thy fee.
Ah! I pay a royal price to those who dance for my
pleasure. I will pay thee royally. I will give thee
whatsoever thy soul desireth. What wouldst thou have?
Speak.
SALOME: [Kneeling] I would
that they presently bring me in a silver charger...
HEROD: [Laughing] In a
silver charger? Surely yes, in a silver charger. She is
charming, is she not? What is it that thou wouldst have
in a silver charger, O sweet and fair Salome, thou that
art fairer than all the daughters of Judaea? What wouldst
thou have them bring thee in a silver charger? Tell me.
Whatsoever it may be, thou shalt receive it. My treasures
belong to thee. What is it that thou wouldst have, Salome?
SALOME: [Rising] The head
of Iokanaan.
HERODIAS: Ah! that is well said,
my daughter.
HEROD: No, no!
HERODIAS: That is well said, my
daughter.
HEROD: No, no, Salome. It is not
that thou desirest. Do not listen to thy mother's voice.
She is ever giving thee evil counsel. Do not heed her.
SALOME: It is not my mother's
voice that I heed. It is for mine own pleasure that I ask
the head of Iokanaan in a silver charger. You have sworn
an oath, Herod. Forget not that you have sworn an oath.
HEROD: I know it. I have sworn
an oath by my gods. I know it well. But I pray thee,
Salome, ask of me something else. Ask of me the half of
my kingdom, and I will give it thee. But ask not of me
what thy lips have asked.
SALOME: I ask of you the head of
Iokanaan.
HEROD: No, no, I will not give
it thee.
SALOME: You have sworn an oath,
Herod.
HERODIAS: Yes, you have sworn an
oath. Everybody heard you. You swore it before everybody.
HEROD: Peace, woman! It is not
to you I speak.
HERODIAS: My daughter has done
well to ask the head of Iokanaan. He has covered me with
insults. He has said unspeakable things against me. One
can see that she loves her mother well. Do not yield, my
daughter. He has sworn an oath, he has sworn an oath.
HEROD: Peace! I speak not to
thee!... Salome, I pray thee be not stubborn. I have ever
been kind toward thee. I have ever loved thee... It may
be that I have loved thee too much. Therefore ask not
this thing of me. This is a terrible thing, an awful
thing to ask of me. Surely, I think thou art jesting. The
head of a man that is cut from his body is ill to look upon,
is it not? It is not meet that the eyes of a virgin
should look upon such a thing. What pleasure couldst thou
have in it? There is no pleasure that thou couldst have
in it. No, no, it is not that thou desirest. Harken to
me. I have an emerald, a great emerald and round, that
the minion of Caesar has sent unto me. When thou lookest
through this emerald thou canst see that which passeth
afar off. Caesar himself carries such an emerald when he
goes to the circus. But my emerald is the larger. It is
the largest emerald in the whole world. Thou wilt take
that, wilt thou not? Ask it of me and I will give it to
thee.
SALOME: I demand the head of
Iokanaan.
HEROD: Thou art not listening.
Thou art not listening. Suffer me to speak, Salome.
SALOME: The head of Iokanaan!
HEROD: No, no, thou wouldst not
have that. Thou sayest that but to trouble me, because
that I have looked at thee and ceased not this night. It
is true, I have looked at thee and ceased not this night.
Thy beauty has troubled me. Thy beauty has grievously
troubled me, and I have looked at thee overmuch. Nay, but
I will look at thee no more. One should not look at
anything. Neither at things, nor at people should one
look. Only in mirrors is it well to look, for mirrors do
but show us masks. Oh! oh! bring wine! I thirst... Salome,
Salome, let us be as friends. Bethink thee... Ah! what
would I say? What was's? Ah! I remember it!... Salome-nay,
but come nearer to me; I fear thou wilt not hear my
words-Salome, thou knowest my white peacocks, my beautiful
white peacocks, that walk in the garden between the
myrtles and the tall cypresstrees? Their beaks are gilded
with gold and the grains that they eat are smeared with
gold, and their feet are stained with purple. When they cry
out the rain comes, and the moon shows herself in the heavens
when they spread their tails. Two by two they walk between
the cypresstrees and the black myrtles, and each has a
slave to tend it. Sometimes they fly across the trees, and
anon they couch in the grass, and round the pools of the water.
There are not in all the world birds so wonderful. I know
that Caesar himself has no birds so fair as my birds. I will
give thee fifty of my peacocks. They will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest, and in the midst of them thou wilt be like
unto the moon in the midst of a great white cloud... I will
give them to thee, all. I have but a hundred, and in the whole
world there is no king who has peacocks like unto my
peacocks. But I will give them all to thee. Only thou must
loose me from my oath, and must not ask of me that which
thy lips have asked of me. [He empties the cup of wine]
SALOME: Give me the head of
Iokanaan!
HERODIAS: Well said, my
daughter! As for you, you are ridiculous with your
peacocks.
HEROD: Peace! you are always
crying out. You cry out like a beast of prey. You must
not cry in such fashion. Your voice wearies me. Peace, I
tell you!... Salome, think on what thou art doing. It may
be that this man comes from God. He is a holy man. The
finger of God has touched him. God has put terrible words
into his mouth. In the palace, as in the desert, God is
ever with him... It may be that He is, at least. One
cannot tell, but it is possible that God is with him and
for him. If he die also, peradventure some evil may befall
me. Verily, he has said that evil will befall some one on
the day whereon he dies. On whom should it fall if it
fall not on me? Remember, I slipped in blood when I came hither.
Also did I not hear a beating of wings in the air, a beating
of vast wings? These are ill omens. And there were other
things. I am sure that there were other things, though I saw
them not. Thou wouldst not that some evil should befall me,
Salome? Listen to me again.
SALOME: Give me the head of
Iokanaan!
HEROD: Ah! thou art not
listening to me. Be calm. As for me, am I not calm? I am
altogether calm. Listen. I have jewels hidden in this
place-jewels that thy mother even has never seen; jewels
that are marvellous to look at. I have a collar of
pearls, set in four rows. They are like unto moons chained
with rays of silver. They are even as half a hundred moons
caught in a golden net. On the ivory breast of a queen they
have rested. Thou shalt be as fair as a queen when thou wearest
them. I have amethysts of two kinds; one that is black
like wine, and one that is red like wine that one has coloured
with water. I have topazes yellow as are the eyes of
tigers, and topazes that are pink as the eyes of a woodpigeon,
and green topazes that are as the eyes of cats. I have
opals that bum always, with a flame that is cold as ice,
opals that make sad men's minds, and are afraid of the shadows.
I have onyxes like the eyeballs of a dead woman. I have
moonstones that change when the moon changes, and are wan
when they see the sun. I have sapphires big like eggs,
and as blue as blue flowers. The sea wanders within them,
and the moon comes never to trouble the blue of their waves.
I have chrysolites and beryls, and chrysoprases and rubies;
I have sardonyx and hyacinth stones, and stones of chalcedony,
and I will give them all unto thee, all, and other things
will I add to them. The King of the Indies has but even
now sent me four fans fashioned from the feathers of parrots,
and the King of Numidia a garment of ostrich feathers. I
have a crystal, into which it is not lawful for a woman
to look, nor may young men behold it until they have been
beaten with rods. In a coffer of nacre I have three wondrous
turquoises. He who wears them on his forehead can imagine
things which are not, and he who carries them in his hand
can turn the fruitful woman into a woman that is barren.
These are great treasures. They are treasures above all
price. But this is not all. In an ebony coffer I have two cups
of amber that are like apples of pure gold. If an enemy pour
poison into these cups they become like apples of silver.
In a coffer incrusted with amber I have sandals incrusted
with glass. I have mantles that have been brought from
the land of the Seres, and bracelets decked about with carbuncles
and with jade that come from the city of Euphrates...
What desirest thou more than this, Salome? Tell me the
thing that thou desirest, and I will give it thee. All
that thou askest I will give thee, save one thing only. I will
give thee all that is mine, save only the life of one
man. I will give thee the mantle of the high priest. I
will give thee the veil of the sanctuary.
THE JEWS: Oh! oh!
SALOME: Give me the head of
Iokanaan!
HEROD: [Sinking back in his
seat] Let her be given what she asks! Of a truth she
is her mother's child! [The first Soldier approaches.
Herodias draws from the hand of the Tetrarch the ring of
death, and gives it to the Soldier, who straightway bears
it to the Executioner. The Executioner looks scared]
Who has taken my ring? There was a ring on my
right hand. Who has drunk my wine? There was wine in my
cup. It was full of wine. Some one has drunk it! Oh! surely
some evil will befall some one. [The Executioner goes
down into the cistern] Ah! wherefore did I give my oath?
Hereafter let no king swear an oath. If he keep it not, it
is terrible, and if he keep it, it is terrible also.
HERODIAS: My daughter has done
well.
HEROD: I am sure that some
misfortune will happen.
SALOME: [She leans over the
cistern and listens] There is no sound. I hear
nothing. Why does he not cry out, this man? Ah! if any
man sought to kill me, I would cry out, I would struggle,
I would not suffer... Strike, strike, Naaman, strike, I
tell you... No, I hear nothing. There is a silence, a terrible
silence. Ah! something has fallen upon the ground. I heard
something fall. It was the sword of the Executioner. He
is afraid, this slave. He has dropped his sword. He dares
not kill him. He is a coward, this slave! Let soldiers be
sent. [She sees the Page of Herodias and addresses him] Come
hither. Thou wert the friend of him who is dead, wert
thou not? Well, I tell thee, there are not dead men enough.
Go to the soldiers and bid them go down and bring me the
thing I ask, the thing the Tetrarch has promised me, the
thing that is mine. [the Page recoils. She turns to
the soldiers] Hither, ye soldiers. Get ye down into
this cistern and bring me the head of this man. Tetrarch,
Tetrarch, command your soldiers that they bring me the
head of Iokanaan. [A huge black arm, the arm of
the Executioner, comes forth from the cistern, bearing on
a silver shield the head of Iokanaan. Salome seizes it.
Herod hides his face with his cloak. Herodias smiles and
fans herself. The Nazarenes fall on their knees and begin
to pray] Ah! thou wouldst not suffer me to kiss thy
mouth, Iokanaan. Well! I will kiss it now. I will bite it
with my teeth as one bites a ripe fruit. Yes, I will kiss
thy mouth, Iokanaan. I said it; did I not say it? I said
it. Ah! I will kiss it now... But wherefore cost thou not
look at me, Iokanaan? Thine eyes that were so terrible,
so full of rage and scorn, are shut now. Wherefore are
they shut? Open shine eyes! Lift up shine eyelids, Iokanaan!
Wherefore cost thou not look at me? Art thou afraid of
me, Iokanaan, that thou wilt not look at me?... And thy
tongue, that was like a red snake darting poison, it moves
no more, it speaks no words, lokanaan, that scarlet viper
that spat its venom upon me. It is strange, is it not? How
is it that the red viper stirs no longer?... Thou wouldst have
none of me, Iokanaan. Thou rejectedstt me. Thou didst speak
evil words against me. Thy didst bear thyself toward me
as to a harlot, as to a woman that is a wanton, to me, Salome,
daughter of Herodias, Princess of Judaea! Well, I still
live, but thou art dead, and thy head belongs to me. I can
do with it what I will. I can throw it to the dogs and to the
birds of the air. That which the dogs leave, the birds of the
air shall devour... Ah, Iokanaan, Iokanaan, thou wert the man
that I loved alone among men! All other men were hateful
to me. But thou wert beautiful! Thy body was a column of
ivory set upon feet of silver. It was a garden full of
doves and lilies of silver. It was a tower of silver decked
with shields of ivory. There was nothing in the world so
white as thy body. There was nothing in the world so
black as thy hair. In the whole world there was nothing so
red as thy mouth. Thy voice was a censer that scattered strange
perfumes, and when I looked on thee I heard a strange
music. Ah! wherefore didst thou not look at me, Iokanaan?
With the cloak of shine hands, and with the cloak of thy
blasphemies thou didst hide thy face. Thou didst put upon
shine eyes the covering of him who would see his God.
Well, thou hast seen thy God, Iokanaan, but me, me, thou
didst never see. If thou hadst seen me thou hadst loved me.
I saw thee, and I loved thee. Oh, how I loved thee! I love
thee yet, Iokanaan. I love only thee... I am athirst for thy
beauty; I am hungry for thy body; and neither wine nor apples
can appease my desire. What shall I do now, Iokanaan?
Neither the floods nor the great waters can quench my
passion. I was a princess, and thou didst scorn me. I was
a virgin, and thou didst take my virginity from me. I was
chaste, and thou didst fill my veins with fire... Ah! ah! wherefore
didst thou not look at me? If thou hadst looked at me
thou hadst loved me. Well I know that thou wouldst have loved
me, and the mystery of Love is greater than the mystery
of Death.
HEROD: She is monstrous, thy
daughter; I tell thee she is monstrous. In truth, what
she has done is a great crime. I am sure that it is a
crime against some unknown God.
HERODIAS: I am well pleased with
my daughter. She has done well. And I would stay here
now.
HEROD: [Rising] Ah! There
speaks my brother's wife! Come! I will not stay in this
place. Come, I tell thee. Surely some terrible thing will
befall. Manasseh, Issachar, Ozias, put out the torches. I
will not look at things, I will not suffer things to look
at me. Put out the torches! Hide the moon! Hide the
stars! Let us hide ourselves in our palace, Herodias. I
begin to be afraid. [The slaves put out the torches.
The stars disappear. A great cloud crosses the moon and
conceals it completely. The Tetrarch begins to climb the
staircase]
THE VOICE OF SALOME: Ah! I have
kissed thy mouth, Iokanaan, I have kissed thy mouth.
There was a bitter taste on thy lips. Was it the taste of
blood... Nay; but perchance it was the taste of love...
They say that love hath a bitter taste... But what
matter? what matter? I have kissed thy mouth, lokanaan, I
have kissed thy mouth. [A ray of moonlight
falls on Salome and illumines her]
HEROD: [Turning round and
seeing Salome] Kill that woman! [The soldiers rush
forward and crush beneath their shields Salome, daughter
of Herodias, Princess of Judaea].
CURTAIN