Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Portal of Initiation
Scene 6
Scene the same as the Fourth.
(The Spirit of the Elements stands in the same place.)
Felicia:
Thou calledst me. What wouldst thou hear of me?
Spirit:
Two men did I present unto the earth
Whose spirit-powers were fructified through thee.
They found their soul's awakening in thy words
When barren thought had paralysed them both.
Thy gifts to them make thee my debtor too.
Their spirit doth not of itself suffice
To render full repayment unto me
For all the service which I did for them.
Felicia:
For many years one of these men did come
To our small cottage, that he might obtain
The strength that lent unto his words their fire.
Later he brought the other with him too;
And so they two consumed the fruits, whose worth
Was then unknown to me: but little good
Did I receive from them as recompense.
Their kind of knowledge to our son they gave,
With good intent indeed, but yet the child
Found nought therein but death unto his soul.
He grew to manhood steeped in all the light,
His father Felix, through the spirit-speech,
Taught him from fountains and from rocks and hills:
To this was joined all that had lived and grown
In my own soul from my first childhood's years;
And yet our son's clear spirit-sense was killed
By the deep gloom of sombre sciences.
Instead of some blithe happy child, there grew
A man of desert soul and empty heart.
And now forsooth thou dost demand of me
That I should pay what they do owe to thee!
Spirit:
It must be so, for thou at first didst serve
The earthly part in them; and so through me
The spirit bids thee now complete the work.
Felicia:
'Tis not my wont to shrink from any debt;
But tell me first what detriment will grow
In mine own self from this love-service done?
Spirit:
What thou at first didst do for them on earth,
Robbed of his strength of soul thine only son;
And what thou givest to their spirits now
Is lost henceforth to thee from thine own self;
Which lessening of the powers of life in thee
Will show as ugliness in thine own flesh.
Felicia:
They robbed my child of all his strength of soul,
And in return I needs must wander forth
A monster in the sight of men, that fruits
May ripen for them, which work little good!
Spirit:
Yet thy work aids the welfare of mankind
And leads as well to thine own happiness.
Thy mother's beauty and thy child's own life
Will blossom for thee in a loftier way,
When one day in the souls and hearts of men,
New spirit-powers shall seed and fructify.
Felicia:
What must I do?
Spirit:
Mankind thou hast inspired
Full often with thy words. Inspire then now
The spirits of the rocks: in this same hour
Thou must bring forth from out thy treasured store
Of fairy pictures some one tale to give
Those beings who do serve me in my work.
Felicia:
So be it then:—A being once did live
Who flew from East to West, as runs the sun.
He flew o'er lands and seas, and from this height
He looked upon the doings of mankind.
He saw how men did one another love,
And, how in hatred they did persecute.
Yet naught could stay this being in his flight,
For love and hatred none the less bring forth
Full many thousand times the same results.
Yet o'er one house—there must the being stay;
For therein dwelt a tired and weary man,
Who pondered on the love of humankind,
And pondered also over human hate.
His contemplations had already graved
Deep furrows on his brow; his hair was white.
And, grieving o'er this man, the being lost
His sun-guide's leadership, and stayed with him
Within his room e'en when the sun went down.
And when the sun arose again, once more
The being joined the spirit of the sun;
And once again he saw mankind pass through
The cycle of the earth in love and hate.
But when he came, still following the sun,
A second time above that selfsame house,
His gaze did fall upon a dying man.
(Germanus, invisible behind the rock, speaks. As
he speaks, he gradually drags his unwieldy size on to the stage; his
feet like clogs are almost earth-bound.)
Germanus:
A man once lived, who went from East to West:
Whose eager thirst for knowledge lured him on
O'er land and sea; with learned pedantry
He looked upon the doings of mankind.
He saw how men did one another love,
And, how in hatred they did persecute;
And every day anon he fondly hoped
His wisdom's goal was now at length in sight.
But, though the world is ruled by love and hate,
Yet could he not combine them into law.
A thousand single cases wrote he down,
Yet still he lacked the comprehending eye.
This dull, dry seeker after truth once met
Upon his path a being formed of light;
Who found existence fraught with heaviness
Since it must live in constant combat with
A darksome being formed of shadows black.
‘Who art thou then?’ the dry truth-seeker asked.
‘Love,’ said the one; the other answered, ‘Hate.’
But these two beings' words fell on deaf ears;
The man heard not, but wandered blindly on
In his dry search for truth from East to West.
Felicia:
And who art thou, who thus against my wish
Dost parody my words in his own way
Until they sound a very mockery?
Germanus:
Only a dwarf-like image of me lives
In man, and therein many things are thought,
That are but mockery of their own selves,
When I do show them in the actual size,
In which they do appear within my brain.
Felicia:
And therefore dost thou also mock at me?
Germanus:
I must right often ply this trade of mine;
Yet mostly men do hear me not, so now
I seized for once this opportunity
To speak as well where men can hear my words.
Johannes (out of his meditation):
This was the man, who of himself did say
That spirit-light grew of its own accord
Within his brain; and Dame Felicia came,
Just like her husband, as she is in life.
Curtain
Sechstes Bild.
(Dieselbe Szenerie wie im vierten Bilde.
Der Geist der Elemente steht an derselben Stelle):
Frau Balde:
Du hast mich rufen lassen;
Was willst du von mir hören?
Geist der Elemente:
Zwei Männer schenkte ich der Erde.
Es ward durch dich befruchtet
Der beiden Männer Geisteskraft.
In deinen Worten fanden sie
Belebung ihrer Seelen,
Wenn trocknes Sinnen sie gelähmt.
Was du gegeben ihnen,
Verschuldet dich auch mir.
Es reicht ihr Geist nicht aus,
Zu lohnen mir den Dienst,
Den ich an ihnen tat.
Frau Balde:
Es kam durch Jahre
Der eine Mann in unser Häuschen,
Zu holen sich die Kraft,
Die seinen Worten Feuer gab.
Er brachte später auch den andern mit.
Und so verzehrten beide
Die Früchte, deren Wert
Mir damals unbekannt.
Doch wenig Gutes
Erfuhr von ihnen ich als Gegengabe.
Sie schenkten unsrem Sohn
Erkenntnis ihrer Art.
Es war recht gut gemeint,
Doch unser Kind
Empfing dadurch den Seelentod.
Erwachsen war es in dem Licht,
Das Vater Felix aus den Quellen,
Den Felsen und den Bergen
Durch Geisterspruch erhalten.
Vereint damit ward alles,
Was mir gewachsen in der Seele
Seit meinen ersten Kinderjahren.
Des Sohnes Geistessinn
Erstarb im finstern Schatten
Der dunkeln Wissenschaft.
Und statt des heitern Kindes
Erwuchs ein Mensch
Mit öder Seele
Und leerem Herzen.
Und nun verlangst du gar,
Daß ich bezahle,
Was sie dir schulden.
Geist der Elemente:
Es muß so sein.
Hast du gedienet erst
Dem Erdenteil in ihnen,
Verlangt der Geist durch mich,
Daß du das Werk vollendest.
Frau Balde:
Es ist nicht meine Art,
Zu weigern, was ich soll;
Doch sage mir zuerst,
Ob Nachteil mir erwächst
Aus meinem Liebesdienst.
Geist der Elemente:
Was du auf Erden erst für sie getan,
Es raubte deinem Kinde seine Seelenkraft.
Was du nun ihrem Geiste gibst,
Ist dir im eignen Selbst verloren;
Und dein Verlust an Lebenskraft
Wird an dem Leib sich dir
Als Häßlichkeit erweisen.
Frau Balde:
Sie nahmen meinem Kinde
Die Kräfte seiner Seele,
Und ich soll wandeln
Als Scheusal vor der Menschen Blicken,
Daß ihnen Früchte reifen,
Die wenig Gutes wirken!
Geist der Elemente:
Doch wirkst du zu der Menschen Heil
Und auch für eignes Glück.
Der Mutter Schönheit und des Kindes Leben,
Sie werden euch in höherer Weise blühn,
Wenn in den Menschenseelen
Die neuen Geisteskräfte keimen.
Frau Balde:
Was soll ich tun?
Geist der Elemente:
Du hast so oft die Menschen inspiriert,
So inspiriere jetzt die Felsengeister,
Du mußt in dieser Stunde dir
Entringen eines deiner Märchenbilder
Und anvertrauen es den Wesen,
Die mir in meiner Arbeit dienen.
Frau Balde:
Es sei ‒ ‒
Es war einmal ein Wesen,
Das flog von Ost nach West
Dem Lauf der Sonne nach.
Es flog hin über Länder, über Meere;
Es sah von seiner Höhe
Dem Menschentreiben zu.
Es sah, wie sich die Menschen lieben
Und hassend sich verfolgen.
Es konnte nichts das Wesen
In seinem Fluge hemmen;
Denn Hass und Liebe schaffen
Das Gleiche stets vieltausendfach.
Doch über einem Hause,
Da mußt das Wesen halten.
Darinnen war ein müder Mann.
Der sann der Menschenliebe nach
Und sann auch über Menschenhass.
Ihm hatte schon sein Sinnen
Ins Antlitz tiefe Furchen eingeschrieben.
Es hatte ihm das Haar gebleicht.
Und über seinem Kummer
Verlor das Wesen seinen Sonnenführer
Und blieb bei jenem Mann.
Es war in seinem Zimmer
Noch als die Sonne unterging;
Und als die Sonne wiederkam,
Da ward das Wesen wieder
Vom Sonnengeiste aufgenommen.
Und wieder sah es Menschen
In Lieb und Hass
Den Erdenlauf verbringen.
Und als es kam zum zweiten Mal,
Der Sonne folgend über jenes Haus,
Da fiel sein Blick
Auf einen toten Mann.
(Hinter einem Felsen spricht German, so daß er unsichtbar bleibt.)
German:
Es war einmal ein Mann,
Der zog von Ost nach West;
Ihn lockt der Wissenstrieb
Hin über Land und Meer.
Er sah nach seinen Weisheitsregeln
Dem Menschentreiben zu.
Er sah, wie sich die Menschen lieben
Und hassend sich verfolgen.
Es sah der Mann sich jeden Augenblick
An seiner Weisheit Ende.
Doch wie stets Hass und Liebe
Die Erdenwelt regieren,
Es war in kein Gesetz zu bringen.
Er schrieb viel tausend Einzelfälle,
Doch fehlte alle Überschau.
Es traf der trockne Forscher
Auf seinem Weg ein Lichteswesen,
Dem war das Dasein schwer,
Da es in stetem Kampfe war
Mit einer finstern Schattenform.
Wer seid ihr denn,
So frägt der trockne Forscher.
Ich bin die Liebe,
So sagt das Eine Wesen;
In mir erblick den Hass,
So sprach das andre.
Es hörte dieser Wesen Worte
Der Mann nicht mehr.
Als tauber Forscher zog fortan
Von Ost nach West der Mann.
Frau Balde:
Wer bist du denn,
Der meine Worte
So unerwünscht
In seiner Art entstellt?
Es klingt wie Spott.
German:
Im Menschen lebt von mir
Ein zwerghaft Abbild nur.
Es wird so manches drin gedacht,
Das Spott nur auf sich selber ist,
Wenn ich es in der Grösse zeige,
Wie es in meinem Hirn erscheint.
Frau Balde:
Darum verspottest du auch mich!
German:
Ich muß recht oft
Dies Handwerk üben;
Doch hört man mich meist nicht.
Ergriffen hab ich die Gelegenheit,
Einmal auch da zu sein,
Wo man mich hört.
Johannes:
Dies war der Mann,
Der von sich sagte,
Das Geisteslicht sei wie von selber
In sein Gehirn gedrungen.
Und Frau Felicia, sie kam,
Gleich ihrem Mann,
Wie sie im Leben ist.
(Vorhang fällt.)
Scene Six
(Same setting as in the fourth scene.
The Spirit of the Elements stands in the same place):
Mrs. Balde:
You sent for me;
What do you want to hear from me?
Spirit of the Elements:
I gave two men to the earth.
Through you, they were fertilized
With the mental power of both men.
In your words, they found
Revitalization of their souls,
When dry thinking paralyzed them.
What you gave them,
You also owe to me.
Their spirit is not enough
To reward me for the service
I did for them.
Mrs. Balde:
It came through the years
That one man came to our little house,
To draw strength
That gave fire to his words.
Later he brought the other one too.
And so both consumed
The fruits, whose value
Was unknown to me at the time.
But little good
Did I receive from them in return.
They gave our son
Knowledge of their kind.
It was well-intentioned,
But our child
Received spiritual death as a result.
He had grown up in the light
That Father Felix had received from the springs,
The rocks, and the mountains
Through spiritual incantations.
Everything that had grown in my soul
Since my early childhood
Was united with this.
Since my earliest childhood.
The son's spiritual sense
Died in the dark shadow
Of the dark science.
And instead of the cheerful child
Grew a person
With a barren soul
And an empty heart.
And now you even demand
That I pay
What they owe you.
Spirit of the Elements:
It must be so.
Once you have served
The earthly part in them,
The spirit demands through me
That you complete the work.
Mrs. Balde:
It is not my way
To refuse what I must do;
But tell me first,
Whether disadvantage will arise for me
From my loving service.
Spirit of the Elements:
What you first did for them on earth
Robbed your child of its soul power.
What you now give to her spirit,
Is lost to you in your own self;
And your loss of vitality
Will show itself on your body
As ugliness.
Mrs Balde:
You took from my child
The powers of his soul,
And I am to walk
As a monster before the eyes of men,
So that they may ripen fruits
That do little good!
Spirit of the Elements:
But you work for the good of mankind
And also for your own happiness.
The beauty of the mother and the life of the child,
They will blossom for you in a higher way,
When in human souls
The new powers of the spirit germinate.
Mrs Balde:
What should I do?
Spirit of the Elements:
You have so often inspired humans,
So now inspire the rock spirits,
You must at this hour
one of your fairy-tale images
and entrust it to the beings
who serve me in my work.
Mrs. Balde:
It was...
Once upon a time there was a being
that flew from east to west
following the course of the sun.
It flew over lands, over seas;
From its height, it saw
The hustle and bustle of humans.
It saw how humans love each other
And hatefully persecute each other.
Nothing could hinder the creature
In its flight;
For hate and love create
The same thing thousands of times over.
But above a house,
The creature had to stop.
Inside was a weary man.
He pondered human love
And also pondered human hatred.
His pondering had already
Carved deep furrows into his face.
It had bleached his hair.
And above his sorrow
The being lost its sun guide
And remained with that man.
It was in his room
Even as the sun went down;
And when the sun returned,
The being was once again
Taken up by the spirit of the sun.
And again it saw people
In love and hate
Spending their earthly lives.
And when it came for the second time,
Following the sun over that house,
Its gaze fell
Upon a dead man.
(German speaks from behind a rock, so that he remains invisible.)
German:
Once upon a time there was a man
Who traveled from east to west;
He was drawn by the thirst for knowledge
Across land and sea.
He observed human activity
According to his rules of wisdom.
He saw how people love each other
And persecute each other with hatred.
Every moment, the man saw
The limits of his wisdom.
But as always, hatred and love
Rule the earthly world,
It could not be put into law.
He wrote down many thousands of individual cases,
But lacked the big picture.
The dry researcher
Encountered a being of light on his way,
Whose existence was difficult,
As it was in constant struggle
With a dark shadow form.
Who are you,
The dry researcher asks.
I am love,
Says one being;
See hatred in me,
Says the other.
The man no longer heard
The words of these beings.
From then on, the man, now deaf,
As they appear in my mind
Went from east to west.
Mrs. Balde:
Who are you,
Who distorts my words
So unwelcomely
In your own way?
As they appear in my mind
It sounds like mockery.
German:
In humans lives only a dwarf-like image of me.
Many things are thought within them
That are only mockery of themselves
When I show them in their greatness
As they appear in my mind.
Mrs Balde:
That's why you mock me too!
German:
I must practice this craft quite often;
But most of the time no one hears me.
I seized the opportunity
To be there once,
Where people can hear me.
Johannes:
This was the man
Who said of himself
That the light of the spirit had entered
His brain of its own accord.
And Mrs. Felicia, she came,
Just like her husband,
As she is in life.
(Curtain falls.)