There is stability for nought on earth.
STUSSI.
Of strange things, too, we hear from other parts.
I spoke with one but now, from Baden come,
Who said a knight was on his way to court,
And, as he rode along, a swarm of wasps
Surrounded him, and settling on his horse,
So fiercely stung the beast, that it fell dead,
And he proceeded to the court on foot.
TELL.
The weak are also furnish'd with a sting.
[Armgart enters with several children, and places herself at the
entrance of the pass.]
STUSSI.
Tis thought to bode disaster to the land,-
Some horrid deeds against the course of nature.
TELL.
Why, every day brings forth such fearful deeds;
There needs no prodigy to herald them.
STUSSI.
Ay, happy he who tills his field in peace,
And sits at home untroubled with his kin.
TELL.
The very meekest cannot be at peace
If his ill neighbour will not let him rest.
[Tell looks frequently with restless expectation towards the top of
the pass.]
STUSSI.
So fare you well! You're waiting some one here?
TELL.
I am.
STUSSI.
God speed you safely to your home!
You are from Uri, are you not? His grace
The Governor's expected thence to-day.
TRAVELLER (entering).
Look not to see the Governor to-day.
The streams are flooded by the heavy rains,
And all the bridges have been swept away.
[Tell rises.]
ARM. (coming forward).
Gessler not coming?
STUSSI.
Want you aught with him?
ARM.
Alas, I do!
STUSSI.
Why, then, thus place yourself
Where you obstruct his passage down the pass?
ARM.
Here he cannot escape me. He must hear me.
FRIESS. (coming hastily down the pass and calls upon the stage) .
Make way, make way! My lord, the Governor,
Is close behind me, riding down the pass.
[Exit TELL.]
ARM. (excitedly).
The Viceroy comes!
[She goes towards the pass with her children, Gessler and Rudolph der
Harras appear on horseback at the upper end of the pass.]
STUSSI. (to Friess.).
How got ye through the stream,
When all the bridges have been carried down?
FRIESS.
We've fought, friend, with the tempest on the lake;
An Alpine torrent's nothing after that.
STUSSI.
How! Were you out, then, in that dreadful storm?
FRIESS.
We were! I'll not forget it while I live.
STUSSI.
Stay, speak-
FRIESS.
I can't-must to the castle haste,
And tell them, that the Governor's at hand.
[Exit.]
STUSSI.
If honest men, now, had been in the ship,
It had gone down with every soul on board:
Some folks are proof 'gainst fire and water both.
[Looking round.]
Where has the huntsman gone with whom I spoke?
[Exit.]
[Enter Gessler and Rudolph der Harras on horseback.]
GESSL.
Say what you will; I am the Emperor's liege,
And how to please him my first thought must be.
He did not send me here to fawn and cringe,
And coax these boors into good humour. No!
Obedience he must have. The struggle's this:
Is king or peasant to be sovereign here?
ARM.
Now is the moment! Now for my petition!
GESSL.
'Twas not in sport that I set up the cap
In Altdorf-or to try the people's hearts-
All this I knew before. I set it up
That they might learn to bend those stubborn necks
They carry far too proudly-and I placed
What well I knew their pride could never brook
Full in the road, which they perforce must pass,
That, when their eye fell on it, they might call
That lord to mind whom they too much forget.
HAR.
But surely, sir, the people have some rights-
GESSL.
This is not time to settle what they are.
Great projects are at work, and hatching now.
The imperial house seeks to extend its power.
Those vast designs of conquest which the sire
Has gloriously begun, the son will end.
This petty nation is a stumbling-block-
One way or other, it must be put down.
[They are about to pass on. Armgart throws herself down before
Gessler.]
ARM.
Mercy, Lord Governor! Oh, pardon, pardon!
GESSL.
Why do you cross me on the public road?
Stand back, I say.
ARM.
My husband lies in prison;
My wretched orphans cry for bread. Have pity,
Pity, my lord, upon our sore distress!
HAR.
Who are you? and your husband, what is he?
ARM.
A poor wild hay-man of the Rigiberg,
Kind sir, who on the brow of the abyss,
Mows the unowner'd grass from craggy shelves,
To which the very cattle dare not climb.
HAR. (to GESSL.).
By Heaven! a sad and pitiable life!
I pray you set the wretched fellow free.
How great soever may be his offence,
His horrid trade is punishment enough.
[To Armgart.]
You shall have justice. To the castle bring
Your suit. This is no place to deal with it.
ARM.
No, no, I will not stir from where I stand,
Until your grace gives me my husband back.
Six months already has he been shut up,
And waits the sentence of a judge in vain.
GESSL.
How! would you force me, woman? Hence! Begone!
ARM.
Justice, my lord! Ay, justice! Thou art judge:
Vice-regent of the Emperor-of Heaven.
Then do thy duty,-as thou hopest for justice
From Him who rules above, show it to us!
GESSL.
Hence! Drive this insolent rabble from my sight!
ARM. (seizing his horse's reins).
No, no, by Heaven, I've nothing more to lose-
Thou stir'st not, Viceroy, from this spot, until
Thou dost me fullest justice. Knit thy brows,
And roll thine eyes-I fear not. Our distress
Is so extreme, so boundless, that we care
No longer for thine anger.
GESSL.
Woman, hence!
Give way, or else my horse shall ride you down.
ARM.
Well, let it!-there-
[Throws her children and herself upon the ground before him.]