Victorien Sardou

“ Enrique. Oh! by that I understand that you deal in love philters.
Zoraya. What need of them, my dear lord?—Love is born of a smile, rather than of a philter.
Enrique. (Jesting) Do you often make that test?
Zoraya. Never!
Enrique. (The same) Oh!—so chaste—in spite of those eyes, there?
Zoraya. Through pride! It is not necessary to search for dignity in me!
Enrique. Bless me! the beautiful! You are very difficult.—But let that pass!—If it were not for some evil work why did you steal Kalem’s body?
Zoraya. The human flesh is not made to feed ravens and wolves. ”

“ Cardenos. You have not forgotten an Arabian physician named Abou-Abassa?
Cleofas. A physician!—said to be a charlatan, who resided on the left bank of the river in a house on the hillside, where his daughter now lives.
Cardenos. Zoraya!
Cleofas. Oh, yes! I knew him!—I was enraged to see Bishop Talavera honor and protect a Moor, who had, they say, healed a sprain with friction—in reality, Cardenos, by means of mystic signs and magic incantations.
Cardenos. Then you are sure that man was——
Cleofas. A necromancer! And worse than that! Listen and judge, friend Cardenos! ”

“ I decided to come to you this morning with Fatoum, who says you are so wise!—For I am to be married today. If my husband sees me get up in the night and promenade like a phantom, he will believe it is a punishment from Heaven!—He will abhor me and I will die of shame!
Zoraya. (Leaning towards her) And during the day when you pray you fall into a dream of ecstasy, do you not—and you make believe that you are no more on this earth?
Joana. (Feeling gradually the suggestions to sleep) Oh, yes—yes!—It is so beautiful! ”

“ There has been neither a magician nor magic. “Life,” said my father, “is a combat, where, like flights of arrows, contrary minds strive among themselves for a victory, which finally rests with the fallen.” I desired ardently to be loved by you. You did not know how to defend yourself. I have shot my arrow into your heart—in that lies all of my sorcery.
Enrique. And why did you so fervently desire me to love you?
Zoraya. (Passing Enrique, to the left) First, because of cowardice, my dear lord!—to extort from you my pardon—and later on, if I conquered you, to flee from Toledo! ”

“ Oliviera. (In a low voice) Oh! her confessions! (Enrique, surprised, turns and looks at him.) Don Enrique, you are a man who can rely on himself. When night comes, I shall leave Toledo for I have much to fear because I have expressed myself too frankly concerning this poor woman, who is no more a sorceress than we are magicians, you and me!
Enrique. (Troubled) Is it possible!—But her confessions, her confessions?
Oliveira. They wrung them from her when they promised your freedom, her sorcery giving you an excuse. ”

“ Enrique. Ramiro! Arias! My archers, help me!
Instead of responding to Enrique’s call for assistance, Ramiro, Arias and the archers join the crowd and shout.
All. (Encouraged by this move) To the stake! To the stake with the sorceress!
Zoraya. (Taking refuge above the steps of the church, then under the portal) They will kill you—Save yourself!
Enrique. (Covering his retreat, sword in hand) Go into the church!—into the church!
Zoraya runs to the closed door, which she shakes in vain.
Zoraya. Open! Open for us!
No response is heard except singing and organ music. The mob laughs. ”

“ The more monstrous the crime the stronger is the proof that he has lost his reason!
Ximénès. It is for this, Governor, that I have called this hasty convocation of the Tribunal before the scandal bursts forth—Toledo must not know at its awakening that a member of the Council of Castile, one honored with royal favor, commander of the archers and crossbowmen of the city, son of a long line of Christians, brave soldier and your son-in-law, has committed such crimes without knowing that he had a right to some explanation—being under the spell of this woman’s sorcery—And that is what all say! ”

“ The crowd, murmuring with interest and curiosity, draws near. Far in the church women are singing a canticle. Profound silence follows. All the assistants go forward, stretching their necks to see the women of the first rank. The nuns, the young girls, and Fatoum and Padilla on their knees, are under the portal. To the right, at the entrance of the alley, are Aisha and Zaguir, who witnessed Zoraya’s arrival. Zoraya stands on the steps behind Joana and raises her face to the crowd. They see the young girl pale as death, her eyes closed. Enrique stands at the left, apart from the others. ”

“ Arias. Nothing!—They have nothing to say!
The Peasants. (All together) We know nothing, your lordship, nothing! So truly as there is a God, we are innocent. (Arias hushes them with a gesture.)
Enrique. Is there among them a relative or friend of Kalem?
All. Not one, your lordship.
A Peasant. None, my lord!
Enrique. No one who would have a reason for stealing his body?
All. (All at the same time) Not one, my lord!—Far from here!—A dog of a Mussulman!—We are good Christians!
A Woman. We should have stoned him to death a second time! (They hear voices outside, at left.)
Ramiro. ”

“ Ximénès. Briefly, you deny being a sorceress?
Zoraya. If I were one, I should be far from here!
Ximénès. The Evil One enjoys abandoning his followers during their time of peril. And you are suspected of sorcery for good reasons, being the daughter of a man accused of magic and an unconverted Mussulman—Why have you not renounced Mahomet for Christ?
Zoraya. I saw that the Christians were no better than we.
Movements among the members of the Tribunal.
Ximénès. And, naturally, you deny being at a witches’ revel?
Zoraya. Ah! certainly, yes, I deny it! Yes, I deny it! ”

“ They are bold enough looking without that.
Doña Syrena. Oh, my! I think the most admirable royal edict is the one which provides the penalty of execution for any intimacy between a Spaniard and a Mooress—for there are truly beautiful girls in the homes of these Africans, and you are not too little inclined, my lords, to perceive them.
Rioubos. And for my part, Señora, I strongly approve of the edict which punishes with solitary confinement in a dungeon any Spanish woman who loves one of these blacks to whose beauty you are not always indifferent. ”

“ Joana. (Quickly) God has guided you!
Zoraya. Be assured, your malady will not trouble you tonight. (Signs of joy from Joana. Zoraya continues.) All service, of course, is worthy of reward. Therefore, I put a price on your healing.
Joana. Ah! I promise to pay in advance.
Zoraya. You are going to the convent of Mercy?
Joana. Yes, to ask for the blessing of the Holy Abbess.
Zoraya. There is in that convent a Christian maid, who, for having loved Kalem, is confined in a dungeon where she never sees daylight, where she awaits death to deliver her, if she has not yet answered its call. ”

“ Zoraya. (Quickly) Ah! if that is so, good—I will go with you!
Enrique. (Violently obstructing her passage) Are you foolish? (To Cardenos.) Go tell Ximénès that he has no right to my confession unless he provides the same indulgence for her whom he calls my accomplice.
Cardenos. You shall say it to him yourself, Señor Enrique. (To Zoraya) Come, you!—Follow me!
Enrique. (Stopping Zoraya) By God! This is insolence!
Zoraya. Enrique!
Enrique. Silence! (To Cardenos) And you—get out of here!
Cardenos. Be careful that you do not render indulgence for yourself impossible! ”

“ Fatoum. Doña Joana, daughter of the Governor of Toledo!
Zoraya. (Quickly rising) That madman who is hunting our refugees in the Sierra and killing them without pity!
Fatoum. Allah, the Most High, rewards the faithful for their sufferings! This child is innocent of her father’s cruelties. She is charitable and good, the same as we ourselves. Moreover, she is very pious. She has been out of the convent only four days and will be married today. ”

“ Calabazas. The sorceress cannot cross the threshold of the church!
Padilla. Very well!—They can bring my child here!
Calabazas and the Inquisitors. Governor——
Padilla. I will be obeyed!
He starts for the doorway. Enrique rushes into the church. Calabazas and the other Inquisitors surround Padilla, while Zoraya removes her cloak.
Calabazas. Padilla!—Such a bargain with this woman!
Albornos. It is a compact with a demon!
Padilla. My daughter! I want my daughter!
Molina. Do you want her before going to Hell, yourself?
Padilla. If that is the price!—Give her to me!
Ibarra. ”

“ Each, at the moment she passes, throws a flower at her feet and murmurs a wish for happiness.
Doña Syrena. Joy and health, Señora!
Doña Rufina. Be happy, Doña Joana!
Doña Serafina. Everlasting happiness, Señora!
The Cavaliers. Our best wishes, Señora!
Doña Joana thanks them as she descends into the foreground and goes up the steps leading to her apartment. The women watch her and bow reverently as she stops on the threshold to look at them before entering the room. Fatoum is waiting for her. The music stops when they enter. ”

“ Enrique. By whom?
Torillo. By a woman-servant, she told me, in the service of the condemned.
Enrique. Aisha?
Torillo. I do not know.
Enrique. Has she paid you?
Torillo. She has given me ten ducats for agreeing to give to the Mooress a little waxen pill the instant that I untie her hands for public penance.
Enrique. Yes! yes! I understand!—You have consented?
Torillo. I promised without fully deciding to do so! But, now that Your Grace desires it also——
Enrique. Ah! God, yes!—and you shall have a thousand ducats tomorrow! ”

“ The unrelenting cruelty used by the Inquisition in making the captive hag and the unfortunate young girl testify against Zoraya, from whom they wring a confession to sorcery in order to free Don Enrique, rouses pity and indignation, which increase to highest pitch when her lover, who stands at the side unobserved by her until she has told all, is deceived into believing that she is a sorceress and that he has been victimized. ”

“ In a scene poetic with romance and beauty Don Enrique and Zoraya, whom he wishes to arrest, drift into the same relation which resulted in the death of the young Moor, whose body had been stolen. This act is the great corner-stone of the drama. Sardou’s skillful motivation prepares the reader for developments in the coming four acts, but this craftsmanship is so carefully hidden that the relations of incidents are so natural that they come in the form of surprises. ”

“ Cleofas. Pinchings, prickings! I have tried everything except the red-hot iron, to which His Excellency objects! Pain has vanished! As the Mooress has bewitched the poor child, my art is ineffective. I have advised the only effective remedy: exorcism in the same church, before the highest altar. (They hear the chants of young girls.) His Excellency and Don Enrique have had the patient carried into it—and they are praying that the demon which possesses her will be chased away. Master Oliveira, whom I left there, will be likely to profit and become an exorciser himself. ”

“ No one in the world ever understood better the technique of playwriting than did Sardou. Both he and Ibsen recognized Scribe’s genius for technique: Sardou acquired Scribe’s craftsmanship, developed it and improved upon it; Ibsen used of it what he could in his clinical excursions into the whys and wherefores of Life—the one reflected the French spirit, the heritage of the epic and romantic past, the social life preceding the fall of the Second Empire and the national life since then ”