Part 349 (1/2)

MEISCHEK.

My gracious liege, here, kneeling at your feet, Behold Marina, youngest of my daughters; The prince of Moscow offers her his heart.

Thou art the stay and pillar of our house, And only from thy royal hand 'tis meet That she receive her spouse and sovereign.

[MARINA kneels to the KING.

KING.

Well, if you wish it, cousin, gladly I Will do the father's office to the Czar.

[To DEMETRIUS, giving him MARINA'S hand.

Thus do I bring you, in this lovely pledge, High fortune's blooming G.o.ddess; and may these Old eyes be spared to see this gracious pair Sit in imperial state on Moscow's throne.

MARINA.

My liege, I humbly thank your grace, and shall Esteem me still your slave where'er I be.

KING.

Rise up, Czaritza! This is not a place For you, the plighted bridesmaid of the Czar; For you, the daughter of my foremost Waywode.

You are the youngest of your sisters; yet Your spirit wings a high and glorious course, And n.o.bly grasps the top of sovereignty.

DEMETRIUS.

Be thou, great monarch, witness of my oath, As, prince to prince, I pledge it here to you!

This n.o.ble lady's hand I do accept As fortune's dearest pledge, and swear that, soon As on my father's throne I take my seat, I'll lead her home in triumph as my bride, With all the state that fits a mighty queen.

And, for a dowry, to my bride I give The princ.i.p.alities Pleskow and Great Neugart, With all towns, hamlets, and in-dwellers there, With all the rights and powers of sovereignty, In absolute possession evermore; And this, my gift, will I as Czar confirm In my free city, Moscow. Furthermore, As compensation to her n.o.ble sire For present charges, I engage to pay A million ducats, Polish currency.

So help me G.o.d, and all his saints, as I Have truly sworn this oath, and shall fulfil it.

KING.

You will do so; you never will forget For what you are the n.o.ble Waywode's debtor; Who, for your wishes, perils his sure wealth, And, for your hopes, a child his heart adores, A friend so rare is to be rarely prized!

Then when your hopes are crowned forget not ever The steps by which you mounted to the throne, Nor with your garments let your heart be changed!

Think, that in Poland first you knew yourself, That this land gave you birth a second time.

DEMETRIUS.

I have been nurtured in adversity; And learned to reverence the beauteous bond Which links mankind with sympathies of love.

KING.

But now you enter on a realm where all-- Use, custom, morals--are untried and strange, In Poland here reigns freedom absolute; The king himself, although in pomp supreme, Must ofttime be the serf of his n.o.blesse; But there the father's sacred power prevails, And in the subject finds a pa.s.sive slave.

DEMETRIUS.

That glorious freedom which surrounds me here I will transplant into my native land, And turn these bond-serfs into glad-souled men; Not o'er the souls of slaves will I bear rule.

KING.

Do naught in haste; but by the time be led!

Prince, ere we part, three lessons take from me, And truly follow them when thou art king.

It is a king that gives them, old and tried, And they may prove of profit to thy youth.

DEMETRIUS.

Oh, share thy wisdom with me! Thou hast won The reverence of a free and mighty people; What must I do to earn so fair a prize?

KING.

You come from a strange land, Borne on the weapons of a foreign foe; This first felt wrong thou hast to wash away.

Then bear thee like a genuine son of Moscow, With reverence due to all her usages.

Keep promise with the Poles, and value them, For thou hast need of friends on thy new throne: The arm that placed thee there can hurl thee down.

Esteem them honorably, yet ape them not; Strange customs thrive not in a foreign soil.