Four Mystery Plays
GA 14
The Soul's Awakening
Scene 12
The interior of the earth. Enormous crystal formations, with streams like lava breaking through them. The whole scene is faintly luminous, transparent in some parts, and with the light shining through from behind in others. Above are red flames which appear to be being pressed downward from the roof. (One hand of Ahriman is a claw and he has a cloven hoof. This is to show the audience that his identity as the Devil is being discovered. Fox has a cloven hoof.)
Ahriman (at first alone):
Now living matter falleth from above
Which I must use. It is the stuff whereof
Are demons made, and it is flowing free
Within the world of form. A man doth strive
To tear from out his being utterly
The spirit-substance he received from me.
My influence hath been till now quite good,
But now he is too near the mystic throng
Whom Benedictus through his wisdom's light
Hath lent the power enabling them to face
Awakening at the cosmic midnight hour.
O'er him hath Lucifer his influence lost,
So that Maria and Johannes could
Release themselves from out his sphere of light.
Henceforth to Strader I must closely cling;—
Once he is mine I'll catch the others too.
Johannes wore himself quite dull and blunt
Against my shadow;—now he knows me well.
Through Strader only can I get at him.
And in Maria's case it is the same;
Yet Strader will perhaps not recognize
The spirit-tangle, which to human eyes
Appears as nature, is in fact naught else
Than mine own personal spirit-property.
And so he may conceive that energy
And matter blindly struggle there where I,
Denying spirit, fashion spirit-things.
'Tis true the rest have talked to him a lot
About my being and about my realm;
And yet, methinks, I have not lost him quite.
He will forget that Benedictus sent
Him hither unto me, but half-awake,
That his belief may be dispelled that I
Am but a woven thought in human brains.
Yet I shall need some earthly help if I
Must bring him here before it is too late.
Now therefore I will call upon a soul
Who in his cleverness considers me
The fancied bogey for benighted fools.
He serves me on and off, when I have need.
(Ahriman goes off and returns with the soul of Fox, whose figure is a sort of copy of his own. He removes a bandage from Fox's eyes.)
(Aside)
Earth-knowledge he must leave here at the door.
For he must never understand the things
Which here he learns, since he is honest still;
No effort would he make, if he once knew
The purpose with which I now influence him.
He must be able later to forget.
(To Fox)
Does thou know doctor Strader, who serves me?
The Soul of Fox:
He drifts about upon the star of Earth;
He would build learned prattle into life;
And yet each wind of life will knock him down.
He listens eagerly to mystic prigs,
And is already stifled by their fog;
He now doth try to blind poor Hilary,
Whose friend, however, keeps him well in hand,
Since all these braggart spirit-whisperings
Would otherwise his business quite destroy.
Ahriman: (Aside)
Such talk as this is not what I require.
I now have need of Strader. If this man
Can still have perfect faith in his own self,
Then Benedictus far too easily
Will make his wisdom known amongst mankind.
The friend of Hilary might be of use
To Lucifer; I must act otherwise—
Through Strader I must Benedictus harm.
For he and all his pupils can achieve
Nothing at all, hath he not Strader's aid.
Mine enemies of course still have their powers,
And after Strader's death he will be theirs.
But if while still on earth his soul can be
Deceived about itself, my gain will be
That Benedictus can no longer use
Him as the leader of his coach's team.
Now in fate's book I have already read
That Strader's span of life is nearly run.
But Benedictus can not yet see this.
(To Fox)
My trusty knave, right crafty is thy wit;
Thou takest me for some dull foolish clown.
So well thou reasonest that men attend.
Go therefore and see Strader very soon,
Tell him that his machine is ill-contrived;
That 'tis not only unpropitious times
That check fulfilment of his promises;
But that his reasoning also is at fault.
The Soul of Fox:
For such a mission I am well equipped.
For some time past I have done nothing else
But think how I can unto Strader prove
How full of error his ambitions are.
When once a man hath formed a clever scheme
By dint of many nights of earnest thought
He will with ease believe that ill-success
Is due not to his thought but outward acts.
And Strader's case is surely pitiable;
Had such a man as he shunned mystic snobs,
And made fit use of his fine intellect,
His great endowments surely would have borne
Much fruit and profit for humanity.
Ahriman:
Now see to it that thou art shrewdly armed.
This is thy task: Thou art to undermine
The confidence of Strader in himself.
No longer then will he desire to work
With Benedictus, who must henceforth rest
Upon himself and his own arguments.
But these are not so pleasing to mankind,
Who will be more opposed to them on earth
The more their inmost nature is disclosed.
The Soul of Fox:
I see already how I shall begin
To show to Strader where his thought hath failed.
There is a flaw within his new machine,
Though he cannot perceive it of himself.
A veil of mystic darkness hinders him.
But I, with my clear common sense, shall be
Of much more use to him than mystic dreams;
This for a long while hath been my desire;
Yet knew I not how to accomplish it.
At length a light is thrown athwart my path.
Now must I think of all the arguments
Which will make Strader realize the truth.
(Ahriman leads out Fox's soul and again blindfolds the individual portraying the soul before he is allowed to depart.)
Ahriman (alone):
He will be of great service unto me.
The mystic light on earth doth burn me sore
I must work further there, but must not let
The mystics unto men my work reveal.
(Theodora's soul appears.)
Theodora's Soul:
Thou mayest Strader reach; but none the less
I shall be by his side; and since we were
United on the radiant path of souls,
We shall remain united wheresoe'er
He dwells on earth or in the spirit-realms.
Ahriman:
If she indeed forsakes him not, the while
He still doth dwell on earth, I stand to lose
My battle; yet I shall not cease to hope
That he may yet forget her 'ere the end.
Zwölftes Bild.
Das Innre der Erde. Mächtige Kristallgebilde, durchbrochen von lavaartigen Durchflüssen; das Ganze matt leuchtend, zum Teil durchsichtig, zum Teil durchscheinend. Nach oben rote Flammen, die wie von der Decke nach unten zusammengepreßt werden.
Ahriman (zuerst allein):
Es fällt jetzt Wesenszeug von oben her,
das ich mir nutzen muß. Dämonenstoff
verrinnt im Formbezirk. ‒ Ein Mensch erstrebt
die Geistsubstanz, die er von mir erhalten,
aus seinem Wesen gänzlich auszutilgen.
Ich konnt’ bisher ihn leidlich inspirieren;
doch jetzt ist er dem Mystenschwarm zu nah’,
der durch das Weisheitslicht des Benedictus
das Wachen in der Weltenmitternacht
ertrotzen konnte. Den hat Lucifer
verwirkt; so daß Maria und Johannes
aus seinem Lichtbezirk entrinnen konnten.
Ich muß mich jetzt an Strader kräftig halten.
Hab’ ich erst ihn, so hol’ ich auch die andern.
Johannes hat an meinem Schatten schon
sich greulich abgestumpft; ‒ der kennt mich gut.
Ich kann an ihn nicht ohne Strader kommen.
Und mit Maria ist es ebenso.
Doch Strader wird das Geistgewirr, das als
Natur den Menschen gilt, vielleicht noch nicht
als meinen Geistestross durchschauen können,
und blindes Kraft- und Stoffgespinst vermuten,
wo ich mir Geistverleugnung geistig schaffe.
Zwar haben ihm die andern viel geschwatzt
von meiner Wesenheit und meinem Reich;
doch halt’ ich ihn noch nicht für ganz verloren.
Er wird vergessen, daß ihn Benedictus
halbwissend her zu mir geschickt, um ihm
den Glauben auszutreiben, daß ich nur
ein Hirngespinst in Menschenköpfen sei.
Nur brauch’ ich Erdenhilfe, soll ich ihn
in mein Gebiet zur rechten Zeit entführen.
Ich will mir eine Seele jetzt berufen,
die so gescheit sich dünkt, daß ich für sie
nichts weiter bin als dummer Narrentrug.
Die dient mir zeitenweis’, wenn ich sie nutz’. ‒
(Ahriman geht ab, kommt mit Ferdinand Reineckes Seele zurück; diese ist der Gestalt nach eine Art Kopie von ihm; beim Eintritt nimmt er der Person, welche die Seele darstellt, eine Binde von den Augen.)
Ahriman:
Den Erdverstand muß er am Tore lassen.
Er darf ja nicht verstehn, was er bei mir
erfahren soll; denn redlich ist er noch;
und nichts erstrebt’ er mir, wenn er verstünd’,
wozu ich jetzt ihn inspirieren will.
Er muß es später auch vergessen können.
‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒
Kennst du den Doktor Strader, der mir dient?
Ferdinand Reineckes Seele:
Der treibt sich auf dem Erdenstern herum;
er will gelehrten Schnack ins Leben bau’n;
den bläst doch jeder Lebenswind stets um. ‒
Den Mystenprotzen hört er gierig zu;
in ihrem Dunst ist er schon halb erstickt.
Und jetzt will er den Gottgetreu umnebeln;
der wird von seinem Freund im Zaum gehalten,
weil ihm die Flunkertruppe sonst das Haus
mit ihrem Geistgemunkel ganz verdirbt.
Ahriman:
Mit solchem Schwätzen ist mir nicht gedient.
Ich brauch’ den Strader jetzt. ‒ Solang der Mann
an sich den vollen Glauben haben kann,
wird’s Benedictus viel zu leicht gelingen,
den Menschen seine Weisheit beizubringen.
Der Freund des Gottgetreu könnt’ Lucifer
wohl dienen; ich jedoch muß anders streben. ‒ ‒
In Strader muß ich Benedictus schaden.
Hat der den Strader nicht, so wird er weiter
mit seinen andern Schülern nichts vollbringen.
Zwar haben meine Gegner noch die Macht;
nach Straders Tode werden sie ihn haben.
Kann ich jedoch die Seele jetzt auf Erden
an sich noch irre machen, so bewirkt
mir dies, daß Benedictus ferner nicht
den Mann als Vorspann für sich nutzen kann.
Nun hab’ ich schon im Schicksalsbuch gelesen,
daß Straders Lebenslauf bald abgelaufen.
Dies kann ja Benedictus nicht erschau’n. ‒ ‒
Mein treuer Knecht, du bist fast überschlau,
du glaubst, daß ich ein dummes Narrenbild.
Du räsonierst so gut, daß man dich hört.
So geh zu Strader schon in nächster Zeit,
erklär’ ihm, daß sein Mechanismus schlecht;
daß er nicht nur aus Zeit-Ungunst nicht hält,
was er versprochen; daß er schlecht erdacht.‒
Ferdinand Reineckes Seele:
Ich bin dazu wohl präpariert. Gar lang’
ist all mein Sinnen nur darauf gerichtet,
wie ich dem Strader recht beweisen kann,
daß er auf Irrtumswegen sich ergeht.
Wenn man solch’ Zeug zunächst gedankenhaft
in vielen Nächten klug ersonnen hat,
dann glaubt man leicht, der Misserfolg läg’ nicht
am Denken selbst; er käm’ von aussen nur.
Mit Strader steht’s doch jammervoll fürwahr:
hätt’ der sich ohne Mystennebel halten
und klug Verstand und Sinn gebrauchen können,
der Menschheit wär’ aus seinen hohen Gaben
der grösste Nutzen sicherlich erwachsen.
Ahriman:
Du sollst dich jetzt mit Klugheit wohl bewaffnen.
Dein Werk soll sein, daß Strader an sich selbst
nicht mehr den rechten Glauben finden mög’.
Dann wird er auch an Benedictus künftig
nicht mehr sich halten wollen; der ist dann
auf sich und seine Gründe angewiesen.
Die aber sind den Menschen nicht genehm.
Sie werden auf der Erde um so mehr
gehasst, je wahrer sie sich zeigen können.
Ferdinand Reineckes Seele:
Mir geht der Sinn schon auf, wie ich dem Strader
die Fehler seines Denkens demonstrier’.
Es hat sein Mechanismus einen Fehler,
den kann er selber nicht bewußt sich machen. ‒
Die Mystenfinsternis verhindert’s ihm.
Ich werde ihm mit meiner Nüchternheit
viel bess’re Dienste wahrlich leisten können.
Ich wollte dies seit langen Zeiten schon;
doch wußt’ ich nicht, wie ich es machen soll.
Ich fühle mich erst jetzt dazu erleuchtet.
Ich muß jetzt alles recht ins Auge fassen,
was Strader von der Wahrheit überzeugt.
(Ahriman führt Reinekes Seele hinaus, und legt der Person, welche die Seele darstellt, bevor sie sein Gebiet verlässt, wieder die Binde um die Augen.)
Ahriman (allein):
Der wird mir gute Dienste leisten können.
Das Mystenlicht auf Erden brennt mich sehr;
ich muß dort weiterwirken, ohne dass
die Mysten meine Werke offenbaren.
(Theodoras Seele erscheint.)
Theodoras Seele:
Du magst an Strader dringen, doch bin ich
an seiner Seite; da er mich gefunden
auf lichtem Seelenpfade, ist er mir
vereint, ob er im Geistgebiet, ob er
im Erdbereich das Leben führen muß.
Ahriman:
Wenn sie ihn wirklich nicht verlässt, so lang
er noch auf Erden weilt, wird mir der Kampf
verloren sein; doch kann ich wohl noch hoffen,
daß er zuletzt sie doch vergessen könnte.
(Vorhang fällt.)
Scene Twelve
The interior of the Earth. Mighty crystal formations, pierced by lava-like flows; the whole thing glowing dimly, partly transparent, partly translucent. Red flames above, as if pressed down from the ceiling.
Ahriman (alone at first):
Now essence is falling from above,
which I must make use of. Demonic matter
is flowing into the realm of form. ‒ A human being strives
to completely erase from his being the spiritual substance he received from me.
I have been able to inspire him reasonably well so far;
but now he is too close to the mystic swarm,
which, through the wisdom light of Benedictus,
was able to defy the vigil in the midnight of the world.
Lucifer has forfeited him,
so that Mary and John
were able to escape from his district of light.
I must now hold on tightly to Strader.
Once I have him, I will also get the others.
John has already become horribly dulled by my shadow; he knows me well.
I cannot get to him without Strader.
I cannot reach him without Strader.
And it is the same with Mary.
But Strader may not yet be able to see through the confusion of minds that
is considered human nature
as my cluster of minds,
and may suspect blind power and material fabric where I spiritually create denial of the spirit.
Admittedly, the others have talked a lot to him about my essence and my kingdom;
Admittedly, the others have talked a lot to him
about my essence and my realm;
but I do not yet consider him completely lost.
He will forget that Benedictus
sent him to me with half-knowledge to drive out his belief
that I am only
a figment of people's imagination.
I only need earthly help to lure him
into my domain at the right time.
I will now summon a soul
that considers itself so clever that, to it, I am
nothing more than a foolish delusion.
It will serve me from time to time, when I need it. ‒
(Ahriman leaves, returns with Ferdinand Reinecke's soul; in appearance, it is a kind of copy of him; upon entering, he removes a blindfold from the person representing the soul.)
Ahriman:
He must leave his earthly understanding at the gate.
He must not understand what he is to learn from me,
for he is still honest;
and he would strive for nothing if he understood
what I now want to inspire him to do.
He must also be able to forget it later.
‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒
Do you know Dr. Strader, who serves me?
Ferdinand Reinecke's soul:
He roams around on the earthly sphere;
he wants to build scholarly chatter into life;
but every wind of life constantly blows him away. ‒
He listens greedily to the mystical pretenders;
he is already half suffocated in their haze.
And now he wants to cloud the God-fearing;
he is kept in check by his friend,
because otherwise the bunch of liars would ruin his house
with their spiritual rumors.
Ahriman:
Such chatter is of no use to me.
I need Strader now. ‒ As long as the man
can have complete faith in himself,
Benedictus will find it far too easy
to teach people his wisdom.
The friend of God-faithful could serve Lucifer
well; I, however, must strive for something else. ‒ ‒
I must harm Benedictus in Strader.
If he does not have Strader, he will continue
to accomplish nothing with his other disciples.
My opponents still have the power,
but after Strader's death, they will have him.
However, if I can now mislead the soul on earth,
this will prevent
Benedictus from continuing to use
the man as his foreman.
Now I have already read in the book of fate
that Strader's life will soon come to an end.
Benedictus cannot foresee this. ‒ ‒
My faithful servant, you are almost too clever,
you believe that I am a stupid fool.
You reason so well that one hears you.
So go to Strader in the near future,
explain to him that his mechanism is bad;
that he not only fails to keep time,
what he promised; that it is poorly conceived.
Ferdinand Reinecke's soul:
I am well prepared for this. For a long time
all my thoughts have been focused on
how I can prove to Strader
that he is on the wrong path.
When one has thoughtfully
contemplated such things for many nights,
it is easy to believe that failure does not lie
in the thinking itself; it comes only from outside.
With Strader, however, the situation is truly lamentable:
had he been able to maintain himself without mystical fog
and been able to use his clever mind and intellect,
humanity would certainly have derived
the greatest benefit from his great gifts.
Ahriman:
You should now arm yourself with wisdom.
Your task shall be to ensure that Strader
can no longer find the right faith in himself.
Then he will also no longer want to hold on to Benedictus in the future;
he will then be dependent on himself and his reasons.
But these are not acceptable to people.
The more true they prove to be, the more they are hated on earth.
Ferdinand Reinecke's soul:
My mind is already opening up as I demonstrate to Strader
the errors in his thinking.
There is a flaw in his mechanism,
which he himself cannot consciously recognize. ‒
The mystical darkness prevents him from doing so.
With my sobriety, I will truly be able to serve him much better.
I have wanted to do this for a long time,
but I did not know how to go about it.
Only now do I feel enlightened enough to do so.
I must now take a good look at everything
that convinces Strader of the truth.
(Ahriman leads Reineke's soul out and, before it leaves his domain, puts the blindfold back over the eyes of the person representing the soul.)
Ahriman (alone):
He will be able to serve me well.
The mystic light on earth burns me greatly;
I must continue to work there without
the mystics revealing my works.
(Theodora's soul appears.)
Theodora's soul:
You may press Strader, but I am
at his side; since he found me
on the bright path of the soul, he is united with me,
whether he must live in the realm of the spirit or
in the realm of the earth.
Ahriman:
If she truly does not leave him as long as
he still dwells on earth, the battle will be lost to me;
but I can still hope
that he might forget her in the end.
(Curtain falls.)