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The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03

Год написания книги
2018
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Cheap souls to whom their honor, their good name

Is their poor saving, their last worthless keep,

Which, having staked and lost, they stake themselves

In the mad rage of gaming. Thou art rich

And glorious; with an unpolluted heart

Thou canst make conquest of whate'er seems highest!

But he, who once hath acted infamy,

Does nothing more in this world.

WALLENSTEIN (grasps his hand).

Calmly, Max!

Much that is great and excellent will we

Perform together yet. And if we only

Stand on the height with dignity, 'tis soon

Forgotten, Max, by what road we ascended.

Believe me, many a crown shines spotless now

That yet was deeply sullied in the winning.

To the evil spirit doth the earth belong,

Not to the good. All that the powers divine

Send from above are universal blessings,

Their light rejoices us, their air refreshes,

But never yet was man enrich'd by them

In their eternal realm no property

Is to be struggled for—all there is general

The jewel, the all-valued gold we win

From the deceiving Powers, depraved in nature,

That dwell beneath the day and blessed sun-light.

Not without sacrifices are they render'd

Propitious, and there lives no soul on earth

That e'er retired unsullied from their service.

MAX.

Whate'er is human, to the human being

Do I allow—and to the vehement

And striving spirit readily I pardon

The excess of action; but to thee, my General,

Above all others make I large concession.

For thou must move a world, and be the master—

He kills thee who condemns thee to inaction.

So be it then! maintain thee in thy post

By violence. Resist the Emperor,

And, if it must be, force with force repel:

I will not praise it, yet I can forgive it.

But not—not to the traitor—yes!—the word

Is spoken out—

Not to the traitor can I yield a pardon.

That is no mere excess! that is no error

Of human nature—that is wholly different;

O that is black, black as the pit of hell!

[WALLENSTEIN betrays a sudden agitation.]

Thou canst not hear it named, and wilt thou do it?

O, turn back to thy duty! That thou canst
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