Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow ACT I. - The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Return to Title Page for The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature
Debate: Cato and Caesar

ACT I. - Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire, Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates). [1901]

Edition used:

The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version. A Critique and Biography by John Morley, notes by Tobias Smollett, trans. William F. Fleming (New York: E.R. DuMont, 1901). In 21 vols. Vol. VIII The Dramatic Works Part 1 (Mérope, Olympia, The Orphan of China, Brutus) and Part II (Mahomet, Amelia, Oedipus, Mariamne, Socrates).

Part of: The Works of Voltaire. A Contemporary Version, in 21 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


ACT I.

SCENE I.

idame, asseli.

idame.

  • O Asseli, amidst this scene of horror,
  • Whilst desolation rages through the land,
  • And the proud Tartar threatens instant ruin
  • To this devoted palace, must thy friend
  • Experience new calamities?

asseli.

  • Alas!
  • We all partake the general ruin; all
  • Must with the public sorrows mix our own:
  • Who doth not tremble for a father’s life,
  • A husband’s, son’s, or brother’s? even within
  • These sacred walls, where dwells the holy band,
  • The ministers of heaven, the interpreters
  • Of China’s laws, with helpless infancy,
  • And feeble age; even here we are not safe:
  • Who knows how far the cruel conqueror
  • May urge his triumphs, whilst the thunder breaks
  • On every side, and soon may burst upon us?

idame.

  • Who is this great destroyer, this dire scourge
  • Of Catai’s sinking empire?

asseli.

  • He is called
  • The king of kings, the fiery Genghis Khan,
  • Who lays the fertile fields of Asia waste,
  • And makes it but a monument of ruin:
  • Already Octar, his successful chief,
  • Has stormed the palace; this once powerful empire,
  • The mistress of the world, is bathed in blood!

idame.

  • Knowest thou, my friend, that this destructive tyrant,
  • Whom now we tremble at, who proudly thus
  • Treads on the necks of kings, is yet no more
  • Than a wild Scythian soldier; bred to arms
  • And practised in the trade of blood; who long
  • Had wandered o’er the neighboring deserts, there
  • Formed a rude band of lawless rioters,
  • And fought his way to glory; now successful,
  • And now oppressed, at length by fortune led
  • Hither he came for refuge: Asseli,
  • I think thou must remember him, his name
  • Was Temugin.

asseli.

  • Ha! he who once addressed
  • His vows to thee! thy angry father then
  • Rejected him with scorn; though now his name
  • Is grown so terrible.

idame.

  • It is the same:
  • Methought even then I saw the rising dawn
  • Of future glory: I remember well,
  • Even when he came a beggar to the palace,
  • And craved protection, he behaved like one
  • Born to command: he loved me; and I own
  • My foolish heart had well nigh listened to him:
  • Perhaps it soothed the woman’s vanity
  • To hold this lion in my toils; perhaps
  • I hoped in time to soften his rude soul,
  • And bend his savage fierceness to the ways
  • Of social life: he might have served the state
  • Which now he would destroy: our proud refusal
  • Incensed the hero, fatal may it prove
  • To this unhappy kingdom: well thou knowest
  • Our pride and jealousy: the ancient laws
  • Of this imperial city; our religion,
  • Our interest and our glory, all forbid
  • Alliance with the nations: for myself,
  • The noble Zamti merited my love,
  • And heaven hath joined me to him by the ties
  • Of holy marriage: who would e’er have thought
  • This poor despised abandoned Scythian thus
  • Should triumph over us? I refused his hand;
  • I am a wife and mother; how that thought
  • Alarms me! he is fiery and revengeful;
  • A Scythian never pardons: cruel fate!
  • And will this valiant nation tamely yield
  • Its neck to slavery, and be led like sheep
  • To slaughter?

asseli.

  • ’Tis reported the Koreans
  • Have raised an army, but we know not yet
  • If it be true.

idame.

  • This sad uncertainty
  • But doubles our distress: heaven only knows
  • What we must suffer, if the emperor
  • Has found a place of refuge, if the queen
  • Is fallen beneath the tyrant’s power, if yet
  • They live; alas! the last surviving pledge
  • Of their unhappy nuptials, the dear infant
  • Entrusted to our care! I tremble for him.
  • Perhaps my Zamti’s sacred character
  • And holy office may subdue the hearts
  • Of these proud conquerors; savage as they are,
  • And thirsting for the blood of half mankind,
  • They yet believe there is a power above
  • That rules o’er all; nature in every breast
  • Hath wisely stamped the image of its God:
  • I talk of hope, but have a thousand fears
  • That wring my heart.

SCENE II.

idame, zamti, asseli.

asseli.

  • O my unhappy lord,
  • Speak, what must be our fate? is it determined?
  • What hast thou seen?

zamti.

  • I tremble to repeat it:
  • We are undone: our empire is no more;
  • A prey to robbers: what hath it availed us
  • That we have trod in the fair paths of virtue?
  • Long time secure within the arms of peace
  • We shone illustrious in the rolls of time,
  • And gave a bright example to mankind:
  • From us the world received its laws; but vain
  • Is human worth when lawless power prevails:
  • I saw the northern hive rush in upon us,
  • And force their passage through a sea of blood;
  • Where’er they passed they spread destruction round them:
  • At length they seized the palace, where the best
  • Of sovereigns and of men, with calm composure
  • And resignation yielded to his fate:
  • The wretched queen lay fainting in his arms:
  • Those of their numerous sons, whom lusty manhood
  • Had sent to battle, were already slain:
  • The rest, who naught could give him but their tears,
  • Hung at his knees and wept; by secret paths
  • I found an entrance to the palace; there
  • Did I behold the cruel tyrants bind
  • In ignominious chains the conquered king,
  • His children, and his wife

idame.

  • Unhappy monarch!
  • O what a change is this! relentless heaven!

zamti.

  • The wretched captive turned his eyes towards me,
  • And in the sacred language, to the Tartar
  • And to the multitude unknown, cried out,
  • “Preserve my last and only hope—my son.”
  • From my full heart I promised, swore to act
  • As he directed me, then fled to thee.
  • Whether the tyrants, busied in their search
  • Of plunder, thought not of me, or the symbol
  • Which here I wear of the divinity
  • Struck their rude souls with reverential awe,
  • Or whether heaven in kind compassion meant
  • To save my precious charge, and cast a cloud
  • O’er their deluded eyes, I know not what
  • Drew their attention, but they let me pass.

idame.

  • We yet may save him, he shall go with me,
  • And with my son; old Etan shall conduct us:
  • In some lone wood, or solitary cave,
  • We may conceal him till the search is past:
  • Thank heaven they have not reached us yet.

zamti.

  • Alas!
  • No place is sacred, no asylum’s left
  • For the dear royal infant: I expect
  • The brave Koreans, but they’ll come too late:
  • But let us seize the favorable hour,
  • And lodge our precious pledge in safety.

SCENE III.

zamti, idame, asseli, etan.

zamti.

  • Etan,
  • Thou seemest disordered: what’s the news?

idame.

  • My lord,
  • We must away; the Scythian has prevailed,
  • And all is lost.

etan.

  • You are observed, and flight
  • Is now impossible: a guard is placed
  • Around us: all obey the conqueror,
  • And tremble at his power: the emperor’s loss
  • Fills every heart with terror.

zamti.

  • Is he dead?

idame.

  • O heaven!

etan.

  • It was indeed a dreadful sight:
  • Himself, his queen, his children, butchered all;
  • A race divine, respected, loved, adored;
  • Their headless trunks exposed to the derision
  • Of their proud conqueror, whilst their trembling subjects
  • Submissive bend beneath the yoke, nor dare
  • To shed a tear o’er those whom long they loved.
  • At length our haughty lord, grown tired of conquest,
  • And satiated with blood, proclaimed to all
  • The terms of life, eternal slavery.
  • This northern tyrant, whom the wrath of heaven
  • Hath sent for our destruction, once contemned
  • And spurned at by our court, returns to glut
  • His vengeance on us: these wild sons of rapine,
  • Who live in tents, in chariots, and in fields,
  • Will never brook confinement ’midst the walls
  • Of this close city: they detest our arts,
  • Our customs, and our laws; and therefore mean
  • To change them all; to make this splendid seat
  • Of empire one vast desert, like their own.

idame.

  • I know the conqueror comes to sate his vengeance
  • On this unhappy kingdom: whilst I lived
  • Unnoticed and obscure, I might have hope
  • Of safety; but that hope is now no more:
  • The night is past that hid me from the eye
  • Of persecution, and I must be wretched.
  • Thrice happy those, who to a tyrant master
  • Are still unknown.

zamti.

  • Who knows but gracious heaven
  • May interpose and save the royal infant:
  • ’Tis our first duty to preserve the charge
  • Committed to our care, and guard him well.
  • What comes this Tartar for?

idame.

  • O heaven! defend us,

SCENE IV.

octar.

  • Hear, slaves; and let your answer be—obedience:
  • An infant yet remains, of royal race,
  • Amongst you: in the conqueror’s name I here
  • Command you to deliver him—to me.
  • I shall expect him here: begone; delay
  • Were dangerous: bring him instantly, or know,
  • Destruction waits on all, but first on you.
  • The day’s far spent; ere night he must be found:
  • Remember, and obey.

SCENE V.

zamti, idame.

idame.

  • O dreadful message!
  • For what are we reserved? Alas! my lord,
  • Ne’er till this day of blood did crimes like this
  • Affright my soul: you answer not, but send
  • Your fruitless sighs to heaven. Sweet innocent,
  • Must we then give thee up a sacrifice
  • To brutal rage?

zamti.

  • I’ve promised, sworn to save him.

idame.

  • What can thy oaths, thy promises avail?
  • Thou canst not keep them; every hope is lost.

zamti.

  • And wouldst thou have me sacrifice the son
  • Of my loved sovereign?

idame.

  • O I cannot bear
  • To think of it; my eyes are bathed in tears.
  • O were I not a mother, would kind heaven
  • But grant me now to shorten my sad days,
  • Then would I say to Zamti, come, my lord,
  • We’ll die together; all is lost to us,
  • And we will perish with our country.

zamti.

  • Who
  • That sees the wretched fate of Cathay’s kings
  • Would wish to live? what is this phantom death,
  • That thus appalls mankind? the wretch’s hope,
  • The villain’s terror, and the brave man’s scorn:
  • Without reluctance, and without regret,
  • The wise expect and meet him as a friend.

idame.

  • What secret purpose labors in your breast?
  • Your cheek is pale, your eyes are filled with tears;
  • My sympathizing heart feels all your sorrows,
  • And would relieve them; what have you resolved?

zamti.

  • To keep my oath; therefore away, and watch
  • The royal infant: I shall follow you.

idame.

  • Alas! a woman’s tears can ne’er defend him.

SCENE VI.

zamti, etan.

zamti.

  • Vain is your care, your kind compassion vain,
  • For he must die; the nation’s weal demands it.
  • Think rather how thou mayest preserve thy country.

zamti.

  • Yes, I will make the dreadful sacrifice.
  • Etan, I know thou holdest this empire dear;
  • Yes, thou adorest the God of heaven and earth,
  • As worshipped by our ancestors; that God
  • Our bonzes know not, and our tyrants scorn.

etan.

  • In him I trust, on him alone rely
  • For my own comfort, and my country’s safety.

zamti.

  • Swear then by him, and his all-ruling power,
  • That thou wilt bury in eternal silence
  • The solemn secret that I mean to pour
  • Into thy faithful bosom: swear, thy hand
  • Shall still be ready to perform whate’er
  • Thy duty and thy God by me command.

etan.

  • I swear; and may the miseries that have fallen
  • On this unhappy kingdom light on me,
  • If ever I am false in word or deed!

zamti.

  • I cannot now recede: then mark me, Etan.

etan.

  • Alas! thou weepest: amidst the general ruin
  • Can there be cause for added grief?

zamti.

  • The doom
  • Is past, my friend, and cannot be reversed.

etan.

  • I know it cannot; but a stranger’s son—

zamti.

  • A stranger! he, my king!

etan.

  • When I remember
  • He is our emperor’s child, I shudder at it:
  • What’s to be done?

zamti.

  • My path thou seest, is here
  • Prescribed, and every action noted down
  • By our new tyrants; thou mayest act with freedom,
  • Because unknown and unobserved: thou knowest
  • The orphan’s place of refuge: for a time
  • We may conceal him ’midst the secret tombs
  • Of our great ancestors; then shelter him
  • Beneath Korea’s chief; he will protect
  • The royal infant: leave the rest to me.

etan.

  • And how will you appear without him, how
  • Appease the conqueror?

zamti.

  • I have wherewithal
  • To glut his vengeance.

etan.

  • You, my lord?

zamti.

  • O nature!
  • O cruel duty!

etan.

  • How—

zamti.

  • I have a son,
  • An only child, now in his cradle—go
  • And seize him.

etan.

  • Ha! your son!

zamti.

  • To save—my king.
  • Away, and let him—but I can no more.

etan.

  • Alas! my lord, what a command is this!
  • I never can obey it.

zamti.

  • Think on Zamti;
  • Think on his love, his weakness, his misfortunes,
  • Thy duty, and—thy oath.

etan.

  • ’Twas rash and vain:
  • Thou didst extort it from me: I admire
  • Thy generous purpose; but if as a friend
  • I might be heard—

zamti.

  • No more; I’ve heard too much
  • Already: what is all that thou couldst say
  • To what a father feels? When nature’s silenced,
  • Friendship should urge no longer.

etan.

  • I obey.

zamti.

  • Leave me for pity’s sake.

SCENE VIII.

zamti.

  • [Alone.
  • Is nature silent?
  • O wretched father! still thou hearest that voice
  • So fatal and so dear: O drown it, heaven,
  • In sweet oblivion; do not let my wife
  • And her dear babe distract this heart; O heal
  • My wounded heart: but man is far too weak
  • To conquer nature: let thy aid divine
  • Support me, and assist my feeble virtue!

End of the First Act.