A TRAGI-COMEDY by XYSTUS BETULIUS AUGUSTANUS
DANIEL. Ahem, fathers, elders of the house of Israel, look, I am exempt from the blood of the innocent.
AGIRA. Ahem, boy, why do you shout out rashly? What does your statement mean? Why this intervention?
DANIEL. Fathers, today you have made an unjust judgement.
AGIRA. Examiner, hear this rash presumption. This boy charges the elders of calumny and appeals against their actions. Declaring the case judged to be void, he is endeavouring to deliver it from the brand of infamy.
EXAMINER. Are you the young man? Are you saying this? Do you wish the elders to yield to you the right of mediation?
DANIEL. God demands this right for the accused. Your sentence is neither fair nor good, and let me prove that your minds are not sharp enough. Nay, God, the father of the race of mortals and the bringer of law, hates justice that is too harsh and more rigid than is tolerable, and human life is not a trifling thing to God; that it should be a game bringing danger of bloodshed. He is not wise, who thinks that is not right. Irrationality, believe me, is perverse and cunning. You have sentenced this lady to death; she is innocent and free from the crime for which you have condemned her. She was not a foreigner, but you have condemned her, a daughter of the house of Israel. Come now, turn your step back to the court, restore this honourable matron to her former condition.
AGIRA. To her former condition? Surely they do not possess their own law? Or from where does this young man have such authority?
EXAMINER. From Heaven, I think. For God, who has given him such great and admirable prudence, will likewise give him the right of liberating the innocent. Therefore, gentlemen, we shall transfer the office of being judge to this young man.
AGIRA. Shall we transfer the office of judge?
EXAMINER. Certainly. Gentle young man, who has been given the spirit of a prophet, take on the office of judge. May your sentence be an oracle for us. What your spirit shall pronounce, let that be ratified. Fathers, take your places joyfully. Free her tender hands from the fetters.
CLETER. We will do this, your honour, with very willing hand.
EXAMINER. Restore this honourable matron to her former condition.
DANIEL. Most renowned fathers of the House of Israel, since the honorary and most esteemed office has now been given to me and the decision of the case, hear in a few words what I feel in this situation. A long-hanging beard does not make a presbyter nor will a broad stripe on the tunic or a fringe painted according to the law make men suitable for the senate. It is my determination that it be shown that the laws are held in our hearts, but fairness shall be superior to every single law. But not to delay with many words; separate these two old men. The state of the case was in the field of conjecture; hence these elders ought to have proved their case by evidence; it is as easy to swear to evils by perjury as to bear witness to the innocence of her life by her pure actions. Keep these old men apart. Let one stand at the court; keep the other carefully out of doors, so that the truth may be revealed from clear conjectures, which have more weight than the confused and not carefully weighed votes of the judges. For let me say that judgements must be considered and not counted or the investigation fails. Your mind is prejudiced? The court will certainly be prejudiced.
EXAMINER. The boy gives correct advice; he is a very great prophet!
ACHAB. Are we to do what has been already done? May this be far from us.
SEDECHIAS. Surely the case will not have to be pleaded a second time by us? O laws, what more strength can be found in you now?
EXAMINER. What now? The greatest strength. Ushers, seize these elderly gentlemen and send for the wife of Joachim. Put the raging Achab into the dock and keep the other outside apart, but carefully, so that he may not abandon the case he began.
CLETER. Ha, ha, old man, are you afraid for your case? Traitor, come with me outside.
ABED. God will bring about his praiseworthy design from the mouth of the tender infant. Now step this way; now reply freely to the judge given us by heaven.
DANIEL. Old in years and very full of guile, vile villain, what Furies possess you? Have you two from your earliest days meditated on wicked crimes and do you practise them still, you villain? How ever do you think that the best and greatest God will overlook thus indulgently these your wicked schemes? You are mistaken, if you believe this. The mercy of that God to whom all hearts are known will not withdraw from the good. Do you believe that your crime is safe and free from fear, and that you can hide such great wickedness by cunning and deceit? But he who shines his light on things, the father of mortals, sees your crime. Credibility has always been denied to great crimes and cannot be there when God is favourable. Come now, surely the crimes you have committed so far are now becoming known to all mortals? Hitherto in your hands was placed the safety of many who, deprived of their fitting protection, perished miserably though innocent. Your severe judgement strikes down simple doves and gives pardon and peace to rapacious ravens. You have always condemned the guiltless, and the innocent paid the penalty when you were judge. You used to cast the white stones for the very worst people and you freed the guilty from the number of the accused; clearly they were your associates and by their gifts they extorted your votes, you traitor. He who shakes the universe will not put up with this. But you have taken too little care for what the highest lawgiver and the greatest ruler has taught. Since you saw her, brawler, tell me under what tree did you catch them enjoying their embraces.
ACHAB. Under what tree? I remember, I will tell you. It was a hawthorn.
DANIEL. It is fitting for a liar to have a memory. Ahem. You villain, who practises wantonness, you are lying into your head. You shall pay the penalty; the minister of God on high has by divine gift a wide jurisdiction; he will tear your lost soul in two.
EXAMINER. By very sure evidence this man has been convicted of calumny. Take him away carefully, keep watch on him when he is fettered.
CLETER. Follow me.
EXAMINER. But see to it that the other be summoned here.
CLETER. It will be well looked after. Come. Ahem. You have no effect on me with your ferocity. That savage wildness of your eyes will bring you no profit. Abed, bring that other old man here.
ABED. Come now, old man, give your testimony. This very young prophet is not deceived. Aha. Are you trembling? Perhaps you are conscious of what it is to be on the witness stand. Why is there a paleness in your face? Is it a sign of your conscience? Is this court frightening you?
DANIEL. Well, you degenerate from the stock of Judah, you have more of a taste of the foulest Canaanite. Susanna's outstanding beauty, the splendour of her elegance and the grace of her features drove you on to lust. Your madness was born from this, and desire blazed in your blind heart, and a great madness of lust seized your mind. Many a time in the past and too often you have thrust vice upon the daughters of Israel and with your evil guile have continually defiled our chaste maidens, and by your wicked tricks you have violated the matrons of the households because for a long time your falsified fame caused them to be afraid; too frequently they used to give in to your wantonness, unhappy women, sharing intimacy with you. But a daughter of the stock of Judah was too strong for you and, like a bronze wall, most bravely this unconquered conqueror did not deem it worthy of herself to yield to you but resisted the fierce thunder of your threats. She disarmed your sweet prayers and chastely broke with heaven-sent strength the sword dipped in honey and drove off your advances. You yourself, wicked villain, will perish by your own sword. But do not think that this is perhaps being done by agreement. Tell me please under what tree did you catch these two talking together in that pleasant garden.
SEDECHIAS. I am not in doubt, the holm oak tree is privy to the wicked lust of this adulteress, believe me.
DANIEL. Sycophant, do you mean that? You lie against your own life. The avenging minister of God threatens now to cut you to pieces through the middle with his sword. For this act of vengeance is just, if the penalty of retaliation shall have vindicated this woman and given the verdict that you two go to the death you deserve.
EXAMINER. As the active champion of fairness, commit them for trial, if now you have a mind to confer.
PEOPLE, from Psalm 8.
O Lord, how excellent is thy name within the bounds of all the earth and in wondrous ways this famous name flies on all sides beyond all the heavens.
You make your praises from the resounding whip of a tender boy, by whom you may destroy utterly the stratagems of your malignant enemy.
THE PEOPLE. O, the faith of men--people, we see a deed done most shamefully. The innocence of the wife of Joachim now shines out clearly. Such calumny! What is the law of vengeance? Is there anything stronger than it? I think this is like the threads of spiders' webs.
EXAMINER. Usher. Call for silence. Now our laws shall find satisfaction.
USHER. What does your noise mean? The judge will now give satisfaction to our laws. Any heedless person shall be fined two shekels.
EXAMINER. Officers, set each witness again in the circle of the court; bring to the court the accused elders who have now been convicted of false witness.
CLETER. Go then! Let the procedure begin.
USHER. Proceed.
EXAMINER. Although God, the supreme judge of all, through a young prophet has thus given us a sure verdict, let there now be nothing ambiguous so that the truth of the case may be clearly uncovered, yet the process of justice shall be preserved here according to the custom of the court. And let someone give his vote. Arradan, speak out what you feel about this.
ARRADAN. I now see that no trust must be put in circumstantial evidence nor in the stripe on a gown nor in a pendulous beard. So a goat should have been numbered in the rank of our judges and a wolf with its hairy back. I proclaim my recantation to this chaste woman; I should sentence these false witnesses to the penalty of vengeance, but the king is our minister: if anyone commits a capital crime, then the jurisdiction is in the hands of Nabuchadnezer, not the worst of kings, unless an uncircumcised person demands something. But for the most part he is esteemed for his fairness. After he conquered us he granted that we should retain the right of defining moral causes, and he allows our laws to keep their former strength. Therefore it seems to me that the whole case should be referred back to the king and should be transferred to him. In this way without doubt we shall then win some good will from him.
EXAMINER. Good Dibon, what judgement does your mind now give?
DIBON. My mind has been clear since I have known that these men were most corrupt both in their hearts and in their external appearance, but the examiner of our hearts corrects our vices, and to me discloses and brings all things out into the open. Come, let the king carry out what he has promulgated.
EXAMINER. Zaba, speak.
ZABA. If I said anything too harsh against you, Dibon, you will remember that I am a man liable to error. For the opinion I gave, I would wish I had not given it. Thus I judge now as those who are superior to me in prudence have judged. Hereafter I shall, I think, be more careful.
EXAMINER. Speak, Besasa.
BESASA. I feel the same as Arradan.
EXAMINER. Speak, Dabrani.
DABRANI. I am changing my vote. What happens very frequently has happened to those who have not curbed their tongues and who have been more talkative by a great deal. For it hurts no one to have been silent; it hurts the one who has spoken. How defective sounds the opinion I gave just now in this case. It is usually said in a proverb that speech should be the same kind as the one who has offered it. I deprecate this suspicion, good brothers. I could seem to be more inconstant than the Europus. Necessity forces me to turn my sails now and to chant a recantation for this injustice. Now I declare that this pure matron is innocent and I pronounce against the old men the sentence the young man Daniel spoke.
EXAMINER. Iavan, tell what your mind sees.
IAVAN. I stand with the preceding opinion. The matron is in no way guilty. The old men must pay with the heavy penalty of their lives.
EXAMINER. Agira, uncover the thoughts of your mind.
AGIRA. I give my opinion in more detail, and I vote for deferral. My reasoning is that this case is difficult. It is not clear whether what should be done has been considered sufficiently or whether this lad has legitimately followed the law, under age as he is. And to be correct, jurisdiction is transferred to the place from which that power has flowed. But our good judge has transferred this case, which he did not hold to be his own, to the votes of the people and the ballots of the elders, by which means he himself was elected our judge. It ought to have been voted on. Thus I think that it is null and void.
EXAMINER. Speak now, Galaad.
GALAAD. I trusted the testimony. This is just, when there is good faith in the witnesses. Hence it is that in this case I am changing my vote.
EXAMINER. Histiob, put forward your vote.
HISTIOB. Come now, Agira? Deferral will be mocked. Why? Are you in any doubt whether the sanction of this lad will have any weight? Believe me, it will carry very much weight. The change has been made with the greatest consensus and with the applause of the people and, what should be more important to you, the highest monarch, from whom all power comes to all, has transferred this case to himself. Do you deny that? I ask you, consider the miracle: you will without doubt confess that these revelations are from heaven. Certainly for me this case is in no way null and void.
EXAMINER. And you, Maloco, give us your opinion.
MALOCO. I had advised before that fairness orders that proof stronger than logical proofs and conjectures should be laid out. Nor was I mistaken. The shrewdness of the boy has made this possible. Madness so seized us conservative elders that we could not see what was needed in this difficult business. But if at that time some of you had been even a little influenced to subscribe to my opinion, the truth would have prevailed. But the truth does prevail, thanks be to God, and in this way is clearer than if the evilness of the elders were still hidden.
EXAMINER. Ierobaal, uncover your view.
IEROBAAL. I had given my view before, but the maturity of the elders and the spirits called on by oath deceived me. I have found it necessary to change my first vote and follow the judgement of God.
EXAMINER. Hedioth, what do you declare?
HEDIOTH. I approve of those good opinions.
EXAMINER. The votes now collected condemn the elders. If this demonstration of divine will cannot provide enough trust for some of you, now there still remains the carrying out of it. Look, there is Nabuchadnezer the king, escorted by a band of attendants and many satraps. We will entrust the business to him; he is the minister of the most high king, from whom the boy prophet has brought the oracle of the divine will.
SIGNAEUS. Look, great Nabuchadnezer, King of Babel, here is a large gathering of the people of Israel. If my weak eyes do not deceive me, they are thronging to the forum.
NABUCHADONOSOR. But what is that boy doing? Certainly the elders are conferring upon the boy according to their custom the auspicious office of judge. What custom is that?
ASPENAX. As Baal loves me, renowned Nabuchadnezer, here is Balthaschazar, the boy flutist lately entrusted to my care, a boy of the greatest promise and one endowed with a character which anyone would wish to see in a royal child. He is powerful by his outstanding sagacity and, not to cheat of their honour the others who of the same race have recently been given to my care and who proceed quite favourably in their Babylonian studies for the royal use, this lad is far superior to all the others; he is by far the greatest champion and glory of the kingdom.
NAB. You say so? They seem to wish to approach us. Let us stay our steps here. I wonder. We shall see.
EXAMINER. Lead the elders as prisoners to his royal majesty. Let us, gentlemen, all go to meet him. Young prophet, put your right hand in mine.
ACHSCHEDAR. They are advancing in a group, O king Nabuchadnezer.
EXAMINER. Long live Nabuchadnezer, King of Babylon.
NABUCHADONOSOR. What are you bringing, gentlemen? What does this assembly of yours signify? Or what do these men in chains mean?
EXAMINER. King Nabuchadnezer, greatest conqueror, these prisoners by manufactured evidence and by evil guile have busied themselves to make a criminal of this woman of remarkable chastity and of honest and chaste character, because remembering her duty she was not willing to serve their depraved lust. But the great prestige of these men deceived us and we have condemned her as an adulteress. But God appeared on the side of this woman, when there was no hope of saving her life, and he sent the young prophet who by his learning excelled all the judges of Israel and convicted these scoundrels of calumny.
NABUCHADONOSOR. Is this the youth?
EXAMINER. Yes, sir.
PERSA. The lad's sagacity is miraculous.
EXAMINER. In this case the law of our God orders that there should be punishment and the sense of our law is that there should be retaliation for the wrong. O King, the jurisdiction over capital punishment for our citizens now rests in you; your justice will arbitrate in this case.
NABUCHADONOSOR. The boy in his judgement has decreed this?
EXAMINER. Yes.
NABUCHADONOSOR. My nobles and dear princes, is this a very great miracle or not? I ask you to bring together your beliefs in this case.
ACHSCHEDAR. O King of Babylon, I cannot in this case refute the validity of all that Balthasar has said.
STRATEGUS. This is not human power but it is done divinely.
PERSA. I do not deny that. I should have believed this.
SIGNAEUS. O King, it pleases me. Great hope, King, shines again in this youth. He will without doubt be an ornament to the Kingdom of Babylon.
PACHUS. I say it has been confirmed. Let what has been revealed by divine providence be ratified by us. Let it be an oracle.
TOPACHUS. I am not displeased. By process of time this lad will become a satrap.
ADARGAZARAEUS. O great King, great hope comes from Israel.
EPHORUS. All things are favourable, and the kingdom is flourishing, while this productive people live in Babylon.
DETHABRAAEUS. There now let the execution of these criminals be ordered and may Baltheschazar grow.
SYMBULUS. They give good advice, O King of Babylon, greatest Nabuchadnezer.
NABUCHADONOSOR. Judges of Israel, it pleases us that, though exiles among us, you do not offer an open window to iniquities. I approve your suggestion. Let the deserved revenge, which your fathers' law decrees and Moses confirms, await such calumnies. Now let the execution be carried out by you. We shall not stay here to watch the spectacle of death.
EXAMINER. Susanna, exceptional glory of chastity. The test of fire proves the gold of virtue. Prudently you called upon the highest judge. I congratulate you on your salvation and I do not know whether there can be anything more gratifying and more agreeable than that now, by the grace of the living God, your chastity has been revealed to be unviolated, constant and whole. With resolute mind now see to it that you go to be with your dear husband and your children. May God make things turn out well for you and always bring you your heart's desire.
SUSANNA. O God on high, author and ruler of all things, O just judge, you allowed me to be put to the test but you did not allow me to perish; you were present when I seemed just now so utterly betrayed. Those who rely firmly on your kindness will never perish. Nay, to one submerged in the depths of such great miseries you stretched out your hand. I beseech you, O God, that you do not commit me hereafter to heavier trials, but that you support my weak self with stout strength, if I am to be a fit instrument for your praise. O my husband Joachim, my sweetest children and you my very good parents, how evident it now is that God can bring us miserable humans from situations now desperate to a good hope and a very real salvation, so that danger may not harm us hereafter. Wonderful are the works of God, who by his changes overturns the plans of men when they are in no way shared by him. Therefore, Benjamin, my sweetest son, it will be your job to give thanks to that charming youth for the restoration of your little mother, since that fair judge on high gave him to me as an arbiter to vindicate my cause.
BENJAMIN. O Daniel, charming leader, you are doing well in that you have restored my mother to me by your kindness, for she is very dear to me. I have her and deservedly I give thanks to you now, as much thanks as possible. When some opportunity shall come, I shall willingly help you according to my means.
DANIEL. Your words are kind. But now you shall delight in your mother. You owe her to your lord God, whose work I carry out.
EXAMINER. Joachim, I am happy now about your case. The elders are on trial and you are in the entrance to the harbour and are sailing safely in shallow water. Honour the Lord God according to your customs. You are now sure of your wife's chastity; you have gold proved by tests and a lily has been born among the harsh thorns. May your wife be as a fruitful vine and your offspring like to the shoots of the olive tree. May the Lord in Zion bless you most generously and one day may you joyfully see your offspring resume their rank and privileges. But if it is your pleasure, you may now take vengeance on your enemies and pay back "like for like."
JOACHIM. I raise no obstacle to this. It is fitting for those engaged in this because of their official positions to carry on. The Lord still demands vengeance for the woman vindicated. For me, a private citizen, it will not be correct. The law orders this, that I should not kill a neighbour. It will be more fitting for us to dedicate this day to the Lord our God in the solemn dances of our religion. Goodbye, elders, judges of Israel. Thanks be to God for this fair judgement. O companion of my marriage, by your constancy you have preserved your honour for me, from the time when you came into my hands as a bride. Indeed, they say generally that she is chaste whom no man has solicited. But when tested you resisted their entreaties; your mind did not yield to their machinations nor did your chastity submit to their force.
SUSANNA. God gave strength to my efforts. There is nothing of which I should boast. God, the author of good, breathes the desire for good into the hearts of mortals by his generous goodness.
JOACHIM. O my beautiful wife, I am blessed that such a partner of my bed has fallen to my lot. Nothing was more propitious or more auspicious than your marriage anywhere in the world. You make me the parent of a beautiful daughter. Now, Father in Heaven, it is my pleasure to pass my life far from public business. Hereafter my house will be continuously friendly. I shall live for God and for my beloved wife.
RACHEL. O daughter, daughter, how my heart jumps for joy. I am overcome by different emotions. The same day appeared to be more than calamitous enough for me and yet has restored you to me, most gladsome daughter. Blessed be thou, great founder of the world. A long farewell to the crowd of the other gods. You, you, God of Sion, you, I say, most justly with your hand guide the helm of the world. You direct justly all the tortuous ways of the world.
CHELKIAS. You speak the truth, wife. O my daughter, O my son- in-law, my son, I weep for joy. I cannot in any other way pour out what my jumping heart proclaims.
SUSANNA. My father and mother, yes, hereafter I think that this place will be safe for chaste mothers and for young girls.
PROMPTULA. I think so and I hope so. Nothing ever corresponded more to my prayers; nothing ever has succeeded more than chastity free from care. If this is not the greatest crime that a chaste woman is not safe in her own orchard, I do not say from her savage enemies, but especially from the judges of Israel, I certainly do not know what could be called a greater crime, unless God in this way, my mistress, tested your strength.
SUSANNA. What am I to say? Alas, my dear Promptula, let this subject be dropped. I want this little girl of mine to grow used to my danger by her own efforts. If you are wise, you will then keep yourself from idleness lest you deliver yourself headlong into such great danger. Blessed certainly is he who learns sense from others. But let us go hence, lest I see this most foul sight or lest I seem to anyone to love revenge.
JOACHIM. Good advice, my great darling.
ABED. Now it is time, you wretches, for you to pay for your crime.
SEDECHIAS. Hold, I pray, allow me to speak to the people.
ABED. Speak.
SEDECHIAS. Men and boys, exiles from Israel and Babylonian citizens, grant this to us wretched prisoners. Those of you who are illustrious in public office, take care lest any deceit or evil trickery seize your hearts or lest through depraved lust you rush into extreme danger. Learn good sense from our danger. We are paying the penalty our crime deserves. Evil advice is the worst thing for a counsellor. Pray now that God, who I feel is just, may spare us sinners from his judgement, so that now, because of his clemency, he may be satisfied by this small punishment, although our sins are very great; in this way his goodness shines forth more if his grace is more abundant.
ACHAB. It is my right to speak a few words also.
CLETER. Agreed.
ACHAB. My companion has advised you honestly but I will add further advice. For it is not sufficient; he is not free from crime who does not plan it. But in the meantime nevertheless our hands were open for pleasing gifts and blind consumers of gifts give judgements according to their gratitude. We, relying on these gifts, have transgressed very seriously. We have called forth justice upon ourselves, bringing evil in our own carriages. Fortune forbears to punish as many as possible. Even so it has seemed good to God that they should examine themselves and, because of our condemnation, now have in mind repentance and not put off till a later calamity a propitiatory sacrifice. May your prayers be raised for us to God.
ABED. Well, elders, justice bids me now to break off these delays.
SEDECHIAS. I beg you give a little time for praying to God, in case he may be willing to turn from us miserable sinners the due process of law and the punishments of hell.
ABED. Late repentance, believe me, is at the bottom. Do you hope that you can patch up your case, which Ate has thrown into confusion for a long time by her evil arts?
SEDECHIAS. So great is the kindness of God. By the sighs from the bottom of my heart I call on him and by my groans I throw up my late prayers of penitence. O Lord, accept these my breathless words; open your ears wide to my prayers, O God, who endures, if in judgement you weigh our crimes with strictness. Though there is no end to my crimes, nevertheless there is also no end to your clemency. If I am especially worthy of the punishment of Hell, yet it is not worthy of you to give a decision too cruelly against the guilty. You will save Israel. Oh, if only this shared salvation by a divine act could now be extended to impious me.
CLETER. You also, Achab, may raise on high your prayers.
ACHAB. O Lord God, let not your rage seize me too savagely, and let your wrath, now falling too violently against me, lash me more gently. Lo, the dart of your thunderbolt threatens me keenly and your threatening hand strikes my mind with terror, and my heart shivers with fear. O, foul crimes. There is no health in all my flesh; I am totally fatigued in my misery. While in my mind I conceive some image of anger, there is no peace of conscience in my bones, as often as I recall how my whirling head was plunged in wickedness and how the burden now weighs me down to destruction. I can tremble at your judgement seat but I cannot avoid it. Woe to poor me! I cannot endure your just sentence, unless pity has more weight than my sins.
EXAMINER. Although my life also has been full of sins, yet the custom of the court obligates me to begin the punishment. Fathers of the House of Israel, as the law of Moses dictates, bring this evil from the middle hence.--
SEDECHIAS. Let me commend my soul to thee, O Lord.--
ACHAB. I commend my soul to thee, O Lord my God.--
CLETER. They have enough stones.
ABED. Now I think chastity is safe.
CLETER. Do you see how wildly their eyes dart this way and that?
ABED. Let not your hope desert you. Rest with your ancestors! ... Let the lifeless bodies of these men be placed hence and committed to the earth according to our country's custom.
USHER. They have lived and are now dead. Now let each of you betake himself to his own home. Keep these examples before your eyes--each of you. Adulterers are treated thus in Israel.
CHORUS, from Psalm 1.
Blessed is he who far from the council chambers and the impious assemblies of mortals and from the cross-roads of sinners, free from all crime, does not occupy the seats of pestilence and is blind to evil dogmas and does not infect with play the minds of the godly.
Thrice and more than thrice fortunate is he who totally at leisure carefully busies himself with the sacred laws and meditates on them with pure mind day and night.
He will grow like a tree planted by the bank of a clear river, a tree which stretches out its joyful arms and pays recompense bearing fruit in due season. The African wind shall not harm it and winter shall not strip the boughs of their leaves.
For this let all things be favourable. Not thus for you, not thus shall it happen, ungodly man, but you shall perish utterly when the wind scattereth you in the form of dust through the empty air.
From this it happens that the will of God shall mortally wound the ungodly, when the shepherd shall separate the goats from the lambs, God the shepherd from whom nothing shall anywhere be hidden.
The just advocate will know the way of the righteous; the ungodly he will send to hell.
Most excellent gentlemen and fathers most skilled in the law, a play is nothing else at all, in my opinion indeed, than a clear mirror of the life of mortals, which shows up the face of this wicked century. So the Roman, Tullius, that famous orator, makes a beautiful comparison when he discusses what is proper for each of us; he orders us to look at the spectacle of comedy in which each actor plays his role correctly: in which, in a contrary manner, while the stage character preserves his decorum, he more often teaches the reverse. He very rarely teaches what is according to decorum. These wicked elders, while they carefully guard decorum, teach in fact that they have departed from their duty and from the role of a judge. Susanna, on the other hand, carefully preserves her decorum. Hence as a matron she will be aware that she has already kept far away from wanton morals because of her sense of decorum. From these few comments make your appraisal of the rest, while the people's lyre shall sound, that all the people may understand. We in the meantime offer you this specimen of our school work, not indeed our serious work. These are our stage- plays, which are serious and useful for mortals. It seemed better than if we dealt with trifles as tragedies: for the proverb blames this. So we always prepare our studies in such a way that there may be a play for the good of the state and we judge it more honourable than if we were to indulge in trivial matters, in which there is not any profit. But it will be your duty, senators, to see to it among your other tasks that the state shall not receive any harm in its growing crop: but it will receive harm, if nourishment is given too sparingly to liberal studies. Consider as fair and good these youthful efforts. I have finished.
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