Frank Wedekind

“ In their king the common people recognize the likeness of their own fortune, and who smirches this likeness robs them of the courage to work and of peace by night. I am far more guilty of this crime than human justice fathoms. It is impossible for the punishment hanging over me to approach the weight of my crime. Even should it cost my life, let it be what you will, I shall accept it from the hands of you judges as a grace of God. ”

“ King Pietro is the worthiest prince who ever had a throne, and I am the last person in his realm who would want to change places with him. That is my last word each evening, a word which does not make me dream of the thick prison air, but of the dripping, stormbent, rustling trees, of the gloomy heaths, of the virgin dew on the thick grass, of my journeys from place to place on the stroller's vans, on the tailboards of which I made all hearts waver between pity and respect.——I have noticed an unusual cramp in my left arm for the last few days. It is not gout, it is not the weakness of old age. ”

“ THE CITIZENS.
Long live our podesta, Pietro Folchi! Long live the Republic of Perugia!
ANDREA VALORI.
Fellow-citizens! Let there be no precipitate haste at this hour! It is necessary to strengthen so the power we have won that they cannot prevail against us as long as we live. Would we succeed if we made Umbria a republic? Under the shelter of republican liberty, the sons of the banished nobles would use the vanity of our daughters to bind us again in chains while we slept unsuspectingly at night! ”

“ THE KING.
Go snick up, you and your gold!—— (To Alma.) That fool woman, in her stupidity, really takes you for a girl in boy's clothes! Why aren't you? If you were a girl, there would be no better opportunity than this to rid yourself of the bristly ballad singer! There is nothing worse than passing 'round the hat for pennies. Perhaps you have already gathered pennies thrown you by the compassionate foster-daughters of this worthy dame?! They always have a chance of being forced again into the exalted ranks of burghers' society as worthy members. Our star is not in the ascendant. ”

“ Alexandrion! Brother! Let me clasp you in my arms! (He embraces and hisses him.) You pearl of dramatic art! Shall I make you speechless with pride!——His Majesty the King is coming to the performance! His Majesty the King of Umbria and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Filipo! Have you words?! I have had two golden chairs put in front of the first row. The moment their Highnesses seat themselves Punchinello must appear on the stage with a deep bow! So be ready, children!——And you, Alexandrion, apple of my eye, bring to light today all the richest treasures hidden in the depths of your soul! ”

“ KING PIETRO.
From the wounds above your eyes, I see that you did not shun death yesterday or today! I name you commander of our war forces. Post our loyal soldiers at the ten gates of the city, and order the drum to beat in the market place for recruits. Perugia must be armed for an expedition to its frontiers in the shortest possible time. You will be answerable to me for the life of every citizen and responsible for the inviolate safety of all property. Now bring the former king of Umbria forth from his prison. It is proper that none save I announce to him his sentence. ”

“ But before my failing members give way, I have a work to accomplish. Let me complete it, O Fate, so that we may part in friendship! I have cultivated it with all possible care, as the only thing profitable in my life. Or shall I be the dupe again? Perhaps, the eager young hearts really do not need my help? Does egotism make me overestimate by importance in furthering their union? Who will open my eyes to my true merits? Blind I came, must I go so? I go and listen! Later I shall not have to think about the answers. (Exit.)
(Enter King Pietro and Crown Prince Filipo.) ”

“ THE CITIZENS.
Hurrah for King Pietro!
PIETRO FOLCHI.
(Mounting the throne.) Called to it by your choice, I mount this throne and name myself King of Umbria! The dissatisfied who have separated from our midst with the cry of "freedom" are no less our enemies than the idle nobles who have turned their backs to our walls. ”

“ KING PIETRO.
I cannot appoint a man who has made his living collecting pennies to any office of state. But my royalty shall never prevent me from making a companion of the man whose gifts have moved me to tears. There is a post vacant close to the throne, which I have left unfilled until now, because I did not wish to make a place for folly in a position where even the greatest amount of wisdom is too small. ”

“ Get to work, lads! Why are you fighting so early in the morning? Are you mad?
THE JOURNEYMEN.
(Holding the King by the arms.) He has cursed the king!——"Curse the king!" he cried! "A triple curse upon the king!"
THE KING.
(Submitting indifferently to force.) A triple curse upon the king! Then let the king's head fall under the headsman's axe.
THE JOURNEYMEN.
Listen to him, Master Pandolfo!
THE KING.
(To himself.) My poor child!
MASTER PANDOLFO.
Bind his hands behind his back! Cursing our dear, good King Pietro! "Let King Pietro's head fall under the headsman's axe!" Bring ropes! ”

“ THE KING.
(Sitting down on a boulder.) My heart beats against my ribs like a caged bird of prey. The road leads up-hill, that takes my breath!
THE CIRCUS RIDER.
We have plenty of time.——Your boy, brother, is very much better on his legs. It's a pity about him! With me he could learn something more profitable than singing street ballads to the lute. Everywhere, that's considered not much better than begging. ”

“ Today I shall take you back to Perugia. Will throw you at King Pietro's feet——
ALMA.
Oh, do not let me hear of that again! Can I leave you when death threatens you daily?
THE KING.
It would be better for you to wear man's clothes, instead of a woman's dress, in the future. It is marvel enough that Providence has protected you until today from the horrors that threaten you in our wanderings! You will be safer in man's clothes. A countryman just passed this way. When he comes back he will take me with him and give me work on his place. ”

“ PIETRO FOLCHI.
(Steps from their midst.) Fellow-citizens!—The byways of Perugia are strewn with the corpses of our children and our brothers. Many of you have a pious wish to give your beloved dead a fitting resting place.—Fellow-citizens! First we must fulfill a higher duty. Let us do our part as quickly as possible, so that the dead shall have perished, not solely for their bravery, but for the lasting welfare of their native-land! ”

“ Next week he is going to take me to court with him, in order that I may take down the case instead of him.——O my father, if only the death sentence which, now that we are in Perugia again, places you in greater danger than ever before, could be lifted from your head!——My feminine ignorance of politics prevents me conjecturing whether they will raise you to the throne again. But they should honor you as more than a king. There must be something godlike about you when, in spite of your degradation, you are able to fill one with happiness as you do me! ”

“ Is not liberty in those states only the cloak of the most dissolute despotism, which is turning their citizens to beggars? Perugia grew in power and prosperity under her kings, until the sceptre passed into the hands of a fool and a wastrel. Let us raise the worthiest of us up to his throne. Then we who stand here exhausted from the conflict, will become the future aristocracy and the lords of the land; only then can we enjoy in lasting peace our hard won prerogatives.
THE CITIZENS.
Long live the king! Long live Pietro Folchi! ”

“ Our farce is apt to change to tragedy!
KING PIETRO.
(To Alma.) You must approach him as minister, or chancellor, and inform him that it is just his wisdom which brings misery upon the land. If he listens to your words, he is nothing but a fool; if he does not listen, you can boldly call him a tyrant! ”

“ But, unfortunately, next to faith in the All-Goodness of Providence, faith in the majesty of the king is the highest and holiest possession of the common people. That which the sons of earth have known since all time as eternal truths, against which none, be he master or slave, sins unpunished, that stands under God's holy protection. Everything which they value, everything that affects their property and the prosperity of their daily work, that they enjoy with childish confidence in their king's protection. ”

“ THE KING.
Imprisonment in darkness.
THE JAILER.
Sixth disciplinary punishment?
THE KING.
Imprisonment in fetters.
THE JAILER.
By that you must understand you are chained all awry, so that after the first hour all the devils you have in your body say good-bye to you! Seventh disciplinary punishment?
THE KING.
Flogging.
THE JAILER.
(Having reached the window.) You shall shed your hide here yet! You, you thief, shall clamber up and down the Jacob's ladder until you fall dead. (He passes in front of the King, leaves the cell and shuts the door from the outside.) ”

“ Under the rule of our sublime and beloved King Pietro, it has become the custom in our city of Perugia to permit the citizen to be present in court during a trial, in order to strengthen his confidence in the unshakable incorruptibility of our judgments. In view of the offence which is to be tried here today, I venture to suggest to the court that the spectators here assembled be excluded from our session, in order that they may be protected from looking too deeply into the degradation of human nature. ”

“ Ha, ha, ha! He who works in order not to go hungry, he is the right kind of worker for me! First comes work and then the hunger. Let him who can live without work starve rather today than tomorrow!
THE KING.
Sir, you must have had wiser teachers than I!
THE LANDED PROPRIETOR.
I should hope so! What have you learned?
THE KING.
The trade of war.
THE LANDED PROPRIETOR.
Thank God, under the rule of King Pietro, whom Heaven long preserve to us, there is little use for that in Umbria any longer. City and country enjoy peace, and at last we live in concord with neighboring states. ”

“ THE KING.
In misfortune people hurt each other without knowledge or desire, just as truly as in happiness each one brings joy to the other unwittingly. Do not make him who is judged suffer for it. You must go, my child; I hear the workmen shouting and tramping about upstairs.
ALMA.
(Kissing him.) Tomorrow morning early! (Exit.)
(The King takes up his work. Then the three journeymen come in, and, sitting down on separate tables on the other side of the room, prepare for work.)
MICHELE.
Gigi, if you get up before cockcrow again I'll break your nose the next night while you sleep. ”

“ The rabble, indeed, possesses no higher power than that over life and death, and, indeed, cannot know whether the miserable sinner would not welcome death, no matter how painful, as a liberation from a thousand sorrows. These, therefore, are the reasons why I hold that the judges before whom I now stand can execute no punishment upon me for my crime. ”

“ Tell the truth, Gigi! Wasn't the page here just now who brings you the glowing love letters from the lady for whom you cut the yellow silk dress?
THE KING.
Do I concern myself with your love letters?
MICHELE.
You concern yourself with entirely different things! You get up right after midnight to practice being a lickspittle and a trimmer! You get the master to give you the journeymen's work and divide the apprentice's work among us! You are a pest in the house! ”

“ THE KING.
(Anxiously.) No, no, I shall not grow quiet! You do not trust my words! You doubt my reason!——Almighty God, where shall I get witnesses to confirm the truth!——Let my daughter be called! It is high time; I shall not see the light much longer!——Let my daughter be called! I am too weak to fetch her myself.——Let my child be called!——My child!
FILIPO.
I beseech you, Father, do not gratify his wish! The girl will go crazy from anguish if unprepared she sees him in his mind's darkness!
THE KING.
Let my child be called! ”

“ THE FIRST THEATRE MANAGER.
You haven't the least trace of talent as a tragedian; as character actor, on the contrary, there is no chance of it going ill with you again in this world. Believe me, my dear friend, I know these kings. I have eaten dinner with two of them at once! Your king's monologue is the caricature of a real king and will be valued as such.
THE SECOND THEATRE MANAGER.
Don't let yourself be hoodwinked by this horse dealer, you rascal! What does he know about comedy! I have studied my profession at the universities of Rome and Bologna. How about two hundred soldi, hi, hi, hi? ”