Stefan Zweig

“ Ye all wanted war, all, all! Your hearts are fickle, and ye sway in the wind like reeds. The very ones who now shout for peace, I have heard howling for war. Those who raise their voices against the king, hounded him on to the fray. Woe unto you, O people! Ye speak with two voices, and drive before every breeze. Ye have fornicated with war, and shall now bear the fruit of war. Ye have played with the sword, and shall now taste its edge.
Voices
Alas, he spurns us.—Jeremiah, be merciful to us in our distress.—Aid us in our wretchedness.
Jeremiah
No man can help you. Help cometh from God alone. ”

“ Zedekiah
Accursèd one, thou liest! High and hale stand the walls of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah
[With growing frenzy] Every head hath been shorn,
Every beard hath been clipt.
The mothers, wearing sackcloth,
Tear the flesh from their cheeks,
Wailing:
“Where are my sons, where are my daughters?”
Woe is me!
The dead bodies of the sons
Lie like dung in the streets
Where they have perished by the sword;
The daughters have been strangled with their own hair,
And the women with child have been ripped up.
The jackals of the wilderness are gorged,
The ravens weary with feasting. ”

“ Hananiah
This is written of an unholy war, of dissension among the brethren of Israel. But ours is a holy war, a war of God waged in the everlasting name of Jerusalem, a war of God, a war of God.
Jeremiah
Couple not God’s name with war. Not God makes war, but man. No war is holy; no death is holy; life alone is holy.
Baruch
You lie! Life is given us that we may sacrifice it to God. I will offer myself upon his altar, I will fall before his foes, I will die for Israel and for Israel’s rule upon earth. Never shall Israel be vanquished so long as all her sons share these thoughts. ”

“ Hananiah
How long will you refrain from deeds, now that God hath awakened you? How long will you remain passive, now that the Lord hath summoned you? God is athirst, for his pitchers are empty; God is anhungered, for his altars are broken; God is cold, for the hangings of the temple have been stolen; God suffers, for the priests of Baal and the servants of Ashtaroth heap scorn upon him! Cast off the yoke, break your chains, raise hosannas, unsheathe your swords. God has awakened you; fight for the Lord!
Baruch
Let hosannas sound! Up, Israel; up Jerusalem, and break the yoke! ”

“ Abimelech
He should be put to death. Unworthy to live is the man who has lost faith in God.
Voices
Stone the hireling.—He would sell the town to the Chaldeans.—He prays for our defeat.—Slay him.
Zedekiah
Shall I kill the man who slandered me, that it may be said he filled me with fear? Jeremiah, I value thy words lightly as air; but once more, for thine own sake, I ask thee the question. Does thy heart faithfully assure thee that death hangs over Zion and over all within her walls? Speak freely.
Jeremiah
Death is over Jerusalem. Death’s hand is upon us all. Naught but surrender can save us. ”

“ He who has drunk his fill of blood, shall be drowned in blood; he who has battened on the flesh of the nations, shall himself soon become food for worms! Hearken! A wind is rising against Babylon, and a tempest is about to break over Nineveh! Numbered are the days of Ashur. Drawn is the sword, and it hangs over thee, thy people, and thy realm. Thou art greedy for news of that which is to come. Learn, O Nebuchadnezzar, that Ashur is ripe for destruction; the measure of thine iniquity is full. ”

“ I see the destruction of Zion. Baruch, waking I see it, for God hath opened an eye within the darkness of my body; my heart maketh a noise in me; my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Why sleep they still? Time is it they should wake, ere their sleep pass into death. Verily the hour is come to awaken Jerusalem!
Baruch
[Stirred by his words] Yea, yea, Jeremiah, awaken Jerusalem!
Jeremiah
[More and more carried away]
O foolish people, afflicted town,
How, ah how, can you sleep at peace
When Death’s cold winding sheet is spread
Beneath you where you lie. ”

“ Zedekiah
[Still more angrily] Thy words are the words of folly.
Jeremiah
The shedding of blood digs a trench between the nations. The more deeply we dig it, the harder to stop the bloodshed. Therefore let words go before the sword. Seek audience of Nebuchadnezzar; send him an envoy.
Zedekiah
I seek Nebuchadnezzar, my foe?
Jeremiah
Send envoys, while there is yet time to save Jerusalem.
Zedekiah
Why should I be the one to propose a parley?
Jeremiah
Blessed is he who first holds out his hand for peace. Blessed is the king who spares the blood of his people. ”

“ Baruch
You can frighten women, faint-heart, but not men. Down, down!
Certain Warriors
Down with him. Hunt him into the street.
Hananiah
Close his mouth!
Voices
Away with him!—He frightens women.—Away with him.—He has foretold enough disaster.—My flesh crept while he was speaking.—Let him hold his peace.
Jeremiah
I will not hold my peace, for Jerusalem cries aloud through my mouth. The walls of Jerusalem stand up in my heart, and would fain still stand; the land of Israel blossoms in my soul, and my hope is to safeguard it. Thy own blood calls through me, Jerusalem, that it may not be shed ”

“ Dismiss his messenger, Lord King. Send back the envoy.
Hananiah
Send back the envoy. Never must such a thing be.
Nahum
Be not too hasty, O King. In our hands lies the welfare of the nation.
Abimelech
A thousand deaths were better than this shame.
Pashur
I will face death with you, will perish in the midst of your warriors.
Hananiah
[Savagely] Dismiss the envoy. Rather death than this sacrilege.
Imre
Ye talk lightly of dying. Bethink ye that your pride means seventy thousand deaths.
Pashur
Would you profane God’s holy of holies?
Imre
Life is part of God’s holiness. God himself is life. ”

“ Jeremiah
[Hides his face, lamenting] Woe, woe unto Jerusalem, woe unto Jerusalem!
Zedekiah
[Drawing near him in alarm] What ails thee Jeremiah?
[Jeremiah does not heed the king. Sobs shake his frame. Soon, however, he draws himself up once more. Now his gaze is fixed on the distance. He speaks as in a dream, raising his hands, like one inspired]
Jeremiah
How art thou fallen from heaven,
Jerusalem, sun of the morning!
Thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven,
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
Alas, thou art fallen from glory,
Art sunken in darkness and night. ”

“ Kneel before Nebuchadnezzar, even as I kneel before thee. Open the gates, and open thy heart. Abase thyself, King Zedekiah, for it is better thou shouldst be abased than that Israel should be laid low.
Zedekiah
Away with thee, away! I will humble myself before no man on earth.
Jeremiah
[Springing impetuously to his feet] Accurst, then, be the oil with which thou wast anointed. Zion has been entrusted to thy hands, and by thy hands is Zion destroyed. Mayst thou be forgotten by God’s mercy, even as thou hast forgotten Jerusalem. A curse be upon thee, murderer of Zion. ”

“ Jeremiah
The easy path of peace! Do you fancy that peace is not action, that peace is not the action of all actions? Day by day you must wrest it from the mouths of liars and from the hearts of men. You must stand alone against the multitude; for clamor is always on the side of the many, and the liar has ever the first word. The meek must be strong; those who desire peace are continually at war. ”

“ Jeremiah
How can I? My own despair is the greatest of all. Leave me, Mother, leave me!
The Mother
I will not leave you, neither will I abandon your soul to despair. Jeremiah, my only son, hearken to me. For the first time let me tell you something which may awaken your courage. Hear the words that are forced from me by my distress. I, too, was once filled with despair, inasmuch as for ten years the Lord had closed my womb. I was the sport of my companions and the mock of the concubines. For ten long years I bore my lot patiently, and had almost given up hope ”

“ Jerusalem is at stake.
Abimelech
My men must have their strength kept up. Let the useless mouths go hungry, the windbags and the prattlers.
Nahum
You talk folly. What would it avail to pinch ourselves unduly, seeing that there are an hundred thousand within the walls. There is food to last us three weeks. If we slaughter the beasts reserved for the temple, we can hold out a fortnight more.
Pashur
Let us keep the peace among ourselves. Ye rail against one another like enemies. Let us stand united against Nebuchadnezzar and likewise against our own people. ”

“ Baruch
Our shame is theirs, and Israel’s need is Egypt’s.
Zebulon
Naught have we in common with any other folk on earth. Our strength lies in isolation.
The Other
But they will fight for us.
Zebulon
They will fight for themselves. Each nation fights for itself alone.
Baruch
Are we still to be slaves? Shall Zedekiah be a king of slaves, and Zion remain in bondage to Chaldea? Were but Zedekiah a true king!
Zebulon
Silence, I command you. It befits not a boy to lay down the law for kings.
Baruch
It is true that I am young; but who is Jerusalem, if it be not her young men? ”

“ I am a peasant, and in peace only will my land bear fruit. War comes trampling across my fields. No war for me, I am against it.
Baruch
[Savagely] Shame upon you! May you rot amid your fields and be choked with your fruits! Cursed be he whose courage is measured by his gains, and cursed be he who values his own pitiful life more than the welfare of his country! Israel is our land for tillage. We will manure it with our blood. Are we not happy, brothers, to die for the one God? ”

“ Jeremiah
[Fiercely] Who is he that I should fear him? Many have there been who bore the proud name of Pharaoh, many whose foreheads were once adorned with circlets of gold, but no man careth to remember their deeds, and no man taketh pen to inscribe their names in the book of time. There have been mightier than he, whom the generations of men have forgotten ere the trees they planted have rotted. Who is Nebuchadnezzar under the stars, that I should fear him? Is he not a worm, even as other men? Does not death dog his footsteps, and corruption await his body? ”

“ Zedekiah
Be silent, all. My soul is not so weak that I can be swayed by the words of chatterers. Fear not, Jeremiah, I heard thy voice on the day when we decided upon war. It resounded in my heart, for a word of peace is the word of God. But the past is past. War now rages between Ashur and Israel. Words no longer avail. I cannot stop the war at will. ”

“ I have sworn that not again will I lie with woman until the gates of Jerusalem have been opened. But I will wait no longer. Should King Zedekiah wish for terms, let him hasten. Never has an enemy withstood me more stoutly. To none will I be more gentle than to him, should he hasten to sue for mercy.”
Abimelech
Nebuchadnezzar is a great warrior. It is an honor to have held out against him for eleven months.
Baruch
He said further: “If ye open the gates and humble yourselves ere the moon be full, I will grant you your lives. Every man may dwell in safety under his vine and under his fig tree. ”

“ Jeremiah
Praise me not. My soul burns with shame. What have I done that shall profit Jerusalem? Have I softened the king’s heart; have I led the erring people into the right path; have I found an envoy of peace? How, when I myself have faltered, shall I show the way for an envoy?
Baruch
You seek an envoy from Nebuchadnezzar to our king?
Jeremiah
Will Nebuchadnezzar be readier to parley than Zedekiah? Kings are like boys, each waiting for the other to begin. ”

“ Hold your peace. You have no right to speak in the marketplace.
Baruch
Shall only the cautious elders speak, none but the aged give counsel, that Israel may grow old before her time and God’s word decay in our hearts? The moment is ours, and it is for us to take revenge. You have abased yourselves, and we will lift ourselves up; you have faltered, but we will bring fruition; you had peace, and we want war.
Zebulon
What do you know of war? We, the fathers, have known war. In books war is great, but in reality war is a destroyer, a ravisher of life. ”

“ No.—Yes.—God is everywhere.—He is here only.—He will reveal himself to us anywhere.—God abides nowhere but in his own temple.—Anywhere, everywhere.—Nowhere but in Jerusalem can we look upon his face.
Jeremiah
[Suddenly springing to his feet, with an awesome outburst] God is nowhere! Nowhere at all! Who among the living hath seen him, who hath heard the sound of his voice? Those who seek him, seek him in vain; those who created him, lied before the faces of men. God is nowhere! Neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor in the souls of men. ”

“ Jeremiah
Brothers, if we believe that we shall arise, already we have arisen. What should we be without faith? Not to us, as to other nations, has a country been given to which we may cling; a home, where we may tarry; rest, that our hearts may wax fat! Not for peace have we been the chosen among the nations. Wandering is our habitation, trouble our heritage, God our home. ”

“ Jeremiah turns fiercely, raising his arms as if about to rebuke Hananiah. His eyes flash fire. Those at his heels draw back in alarm, as from a wild beast at bay. But Jeremiah controls himself. His arms sink to his sides, and the fierce expression vanishes from his countenance. With a last look at the dead form of his mother, he regains composure. Covering his face, he walks forth alone, like one carrying a heavy burden. The rest follow in disorder. Last of all walks Pashur, deep in thought. Ahab and Jochebed are left, looking at one another uneasily. ”

“ From the north and the south, from the east and the west, the happy pilgrims come. Their footsteps hasten across the hills of Gilead, eagerly do they make their way over Bashan and Carmel, that they may see the city of our love, the city of our suffering, the holy fortress of Zion. And Jerusalem rejoices to welcome her children, returned in countless numbers from the prison-houses of exile. Where the flowers were withered, new buds are springing; where darkness had loomed, there shines fresh light; those who have been dumb, find voice. ”

“ Hail, for that you who came to curse Israel have blessed us thrice.
Baruch
Master, look upon their discord. Make their hearts one, their spirits fruitful. Lift them from their mourning, lift their souls to God.
Jeremiah
[Leaving his companions and going to the top of the steps] Brothers, in the darkness I feel you to be near me, and know that your souls are filled with darkness. But why do you despair? Why do you lament? ”

“ A curse upon the man who thirsts for blood, but seven times accursed be the woman who is eager for war; for war shall devour the fruit of her womb, and the men of Ashur shall cast lots for her and for her raiment. You and such as you shall be mourners, tearing your cheeks with your nails, and uttering shrill cries of lamentation, you women who spit upon me and revile peace. ”

“ My heart yearns for silence; my soul is consumed with longing that I may become brother to the dead. Make way, I will bury myself, that I may deliver myself from the world, and Israel of my presence. [He folds his arms and moves towards the doorway. The others begin to follow him hesitatingly]
Hananiah
[Bursting in on the silence with an exultant cry] Rejoice, Zion, for broken is the song of thy destruction, rent are the lips of thy slanderer. Rejoice, Zion, for eternal is thy springtime. Jerusalem endureth for ever! ”